Ithil
by Lunas13
Summary: A fair haired young woman finds herself in a strange and foreign land when she is kidnapped from her home. She will do whatever it means to survive and hopefully find her way back home. But will she want to leave once she makes new friends, or possibly more? -Ithil means "Moon" in Sindarin and it is linked with my OC. Legolas/OC pairing Disclaimer: I do not own LOTR
1. Chapter 1

**Note**:

**-Just so you are aware a head of time. My oc is from a completely different country across the sea. It is further than the undying lands and unrecorded on nearly every map. It is a land that no one from Middle Earth would have known existed and likewise no one from the other. Also I'm mixing a lot of different cultures throughout history in one to make her kingdom. Mostly you will see India and Greece but there may be hints of other things as the story goes on.**

**-Also this is after the War of the Ring; most of the elves have left but few colonies do remain in Middle Earth. Oh and I'm sorry if the Greek is off (yes that will be mostly the language she uses) I do not know the language and I'm using a translator.**

_Chapter One - The Moon_

They sailed across the waters towards an unknown land to them. They had precious cargo within their ship; she was heavily guarded in the lower regions of the ship. They were on the run for weeks until they managed to lose those who pursued them. Her arms were bound behind her back while her legs were tied together at her ankles, and her sword was taken from her. She had been gagged after the fifth man she injured by purely biting them hard enough. Her light, almost white blonde hair was braided down to her mid back and hung loose; bits of hair had fallen out in various places. Her dress was a light and faded sky blue that came over the top of one shoulder then draped down her back. Loose rope hung on her waist were her sword was held previously.

Her grey eyes sharply glared towards the door that she knew her captors were outside of. For hours she was slowly working on loosening the rope that bound her wrists together, once that was loose enough she would work on the rope around her ankles. She glanced towards the window on the side of the ship and saw a sight she hadn't seen in weeks; land. A spark lit inside the woman and she managed to loosen the rope that laid on her hands. Next she worked on her ankles and without meaning to the rope slid off of her. She mentally scolded herself for the action. There was a sound at the door and her head snapped up and in a quick motion she moved her legs behind her and leaned on one side to hide the fact she untied them. The door opened and one of the crew of the ship walked in.

«Ξεκιναμε συντομα. Και μη κανεις καμια ανοησια, αλλιως θα το μετανοιωσεις» (we head out soon. Do not cause trouble or you will be sorry). The man didn't even notice the rope that now laid on the ground as he shut the door. The woman let the rope on her hands fall and took the gag out of her mouth and tossed it aside. She slid quietly off the bed and the bangles on her wrists clunk slightly as she walked. She moved close to the window and glanced out. Once they got closer someone would come to retrieve her and then she would strike as quietly and unnoticed for as long as she could.

As she predicted the door opened about fifteen minutes later as they were approaching the land; by now a small forest could be seen as well as grass lands. She would make for the forests to take cover there and continue on foot. She must find out where she was in order to return to her homeland. The women stood behind the door and heard the sailor who came to collect her curse as he ran deeper into the room. He turned to run out but she shut the door and pounced on the unsuspecting victim. He had little time to react before she wrapped a rope around his neck and pulled; choking him slightly.

«Που το εχουν?» (Where have they taken it?) She asked, the man tried to get freed from the rope but she tightened it around his neck and choked him a little more.

«Π-Που εχουν π-ποιο?» (T-Taken what?) The sailor struggled to answer.

«Το σπαθι μου, αν εκτιμας τη ζωη σου θα μιλησεις αυτην τη στιγμη.» (My sword, if you value your life you will tell me now.)

«Δεν ξερω τιπιτα για τ-»(I know nothing of your-) She growled lowly and tightened the rope a bit more and saw him struggle some more in an attempt to break her hold on the rope.

«Αν συνεχισεις να μου λες ψεματα, θα συναντησεις το Θεο του κατω κοσμου νωριτερα απ' ο,τι υπολογιζες!» (If you continue to lie you will meet the god of the underworld sooner than you wish!)

«Στα δωματια του καπετανιου... Σε παρακαλω, τουλαχιστον χαλαρωσε-» (The captains private quarters... Please loosen-) She did not given him time to finish his plea. She withdrew the rope from his neck and quickly tied his hands behind his neck and shoved him down onto the bed.

«Η φυλακισμενη το εσκ-» (The prisoner is-) She knocked out the sailor before he could say another word; but it was already too late for that. Two more men barged in. They shouted something she didn't catch and ran at her. The first one she managed to kick into a wardrobe, however the second dodged her kick and grabbed her around her arms and lifted her up; squeezing her in the process. She saw black dots begin to form in her vision and threw her head back right into his nose. With a satsifying crunch and a howl of pain she was dropped onto the ground.

The fair haired girl took in a sharp intake of breath and then kicked the legs out from under the sailor who was squeezing her into unconsciousness moments before. She saw the man fall back and hit his head on the frame of the bed; that was purely luck on her side, and she planned to use up that luck as much as possible. The second sailor came at her with his fists raised and she met him in a fist fight. Granted she pulled some unfair and dirty moves but she won and that was what she cared most for.

The women rose and quietly walked out of the room, she stuck to the shadowed sides of the ship. She wanted to remain as unnoticed as possible. Then she saw the stairs that lead to the third level, second level, and deck of the ship. She hurried up the steps to the third level she quietly took out three men one by one and then started up the next set of stairs. She stopped when she heard two men talking on the second while everyone else was on the deck. She went back to one of the sailors she knocked out on the third floor and pushed him down the stairs leading to the fourth level.

She quickly grabbed a wooden plank and ran behind the stairs and moments later the two from upstairs ran down. She came out and swung her plank and hit the both of them in the back of the head and they hit the ground with a thud. She continued up to the second floor and took a deep breath. She needed to get to the captains quarters to retrieve her sword; it was precious to her and she couldn't bare to leave it... But there was a good chance she would be recaptured. She took a calming breath and looked down the stairs one more time then ran up the final set to the deck.

For a brief minute she had surprise on her side and used it to her advantage to disarm and knock out a few of the sailors who kidnapped her. The plank was heavy but her blood was pumping quickly through her veins and she found the strength she never knew she had to swing, hit, and shield herself. But that strength was beginning to fail and she threw her plank onto a few men and picked up a disgarded sword. She had knocked out seventeen men including those downstairs and at least twenty more still were well and fighting. Soon they were ganging up on her an she made a run for the captain's quarters as he was coming down from the upper deck. A dagger whizzed past her and cut her arm. She instictually grabbed her arm and ran faster. A sword came down in front of her and nearly sliced her neck; but she jumped to the side and out of the way.

«Ανοητοι! Τη χρειαζομαστε ζωντανη!» (Idiots! She is needed alive!) The captain yelled angrily as she went into his quarters and shut the door behind her and locked it. She pushed his desk in front of the doors as they began breaking the class. A few stray shards cut her but at the moment she could care less. The brunette searched wildly until she found her prized sword. The hilt was a greyish blue and was long with blue fabric wrapped around it, the blade was silver and at the top near the hilt there were carvings for about an inch. It was a long sword and it always served her well. She placed her sword in it's sheath and then tied it into the ropes of her dress. She turned and saw that sailors were beginning to climb through broken glass windows.

She stepped back and saw a window that lead to the outside of the ship above the water. She opened it and was small enough to slip through it and hold onto the edge of the boat. She was slow beginning to move across the back of the boat when an arm reached out of the window to try and grab a hold of her. She lost her holding and fell back down into the sea. The salt water burned her cuts and she let out the puff of air she was holding and resurfaced. She coughed and her eyes teared up, but she could not give into pain right now. She began swimming no matter how much her limps were protesting and went under the water a few times so that the sailors would loose sight of her.

It took her at least fifteen minutes but she got to the land. The ship was still a bit out and sailors were in life boats searching for her. She looked back at them for a moment and then ran within the forest. If they didn't already know she was on land they would soon enough. Her legs and arms burned from the cuts as well as being over worked when she was mostly sitting around for three weeks. She willed herself to keep running no matter how blurry her vision was becoming. Eventually her running slowed to a jog and time seemed to fast forward. She didn't know where she was headed but anywhere away from the harbor would suffice for now. The sun was setting and night fell upon the forest.

Her jog slowed to a walk and she looked up at the sky and barely saw the moon through the thick branches. Her vision was becoming more hazy and the pain dulled into an ache. She stared at the moon and sent up a silent prayer up to her namesake in the heavens as she collapsed onto the forest floor. Her body was refusing to listen to her commands and her vision darkened as she saw hooves approaching her. There were voices who seemed far away and light; she could not hear what they were saying and soon her entire world became dark.

**Note:**

**-I hope you all liked this chapter. Also I didn't say what her name was on purpose, If you are curious you will find out in the next chapter. I'll give you a hint it relates to the moon. Also, in case anyone was unsure the cover picture is suppose to be what she looks like. Please review, follow, and favorite!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Note:**

**-Well I hoped that you enjoyed the last chapter. I decided to post this the same day because I'm simply excited for this story. As always please give me feedback, I want to know if you liked the chapter or not. If you think this is bad please tell me why.**

**-I do not own Lord of the Rings, Middle Earth or any of the people residing there. All I own is my oc, the made up place that she came from, and her kidnappers. As always enjoy the chapter my friends.**

**-Also good guess Secret Moon Princess. But no it was not Artemis.**

_Chapter Two - Trying to Understand_

She was laying on something soft and her eye lids still felt heavy but she willed them to open. Light blinded her for a moment and she lifted her hand to cover her eyes. Her eyes widened and she stared at her wrist; where was it?! She started to hypervelilate and searched frankly until her eyes fell upon the glass bangle. She pushed her self off the bed and made a dash for the bracelet, her legs were still weak but she cared not. She picked it up and put it on her left wrist and put all the others on her right. In her process of regathering her bangles she heard the door creak open.

"Oh dear! The young lady as awaken!" She turned and saw an older woman standing in the door way speaking a language she never heard before. She had grey eyes and black hair that stopped a little passed her shoulders. She wore a cotten white under dress with a red over coat. She seemed to have kind eyes but the fair haired girl did not let down her guard; she reached for where her sword lie around her waist only to touch the air. It was in that moment she realized that her sword was not only gone but she was in a completely different dress.

"Poor thing, you look so lost. Tell me what is your name child?"

«Ποιοι ειστε? Γιατι με εχετε φερει εδω?» (who are you? Why have you brought me here?) She asked the older woman as her husband came over. But they both looked just as confused as she was feeling.

"Do you have a name dear?" The women spoke slower this time and the blonde only looked more confused.

«Δεν καταλαβαινω τι λετε» (I do not understand.) The woman's brow furrowed for a moment but her husband seemed to understand that she did not understand what they were saying.

"Erymir." The older man said whils pointing to himself. His wife caught on and pointed to herself and said; "Clessa." They repeated the action again and her grey eyes widened slightly as she caught on. Names, they were saying their names. The faired hair girl slowly lifted a bandaged arm and patted herself on her chest.

"Selene." The couple smiled.

"Selene?" They pointed at her as they said her name, and Selene nodded.

«Ναι» (yes). Selene was still a little on edge as she watched them; they did not know her language as far as she could tell and she did not understand what they were saying to her. The older women, Clessa, started to move towards her and Selene backed up raising her arms in a defensive way.

"The poor girl does not understand dear. How can we help her if she's on edge and we cannot even calm her down? How can we say that we mean no harm?" The man asked. Selene watched him and his wife speak back and forth. She tried to understand but she could not. The only reason she knew they spoke of her was because they kept glancing at her when speaking. They finally stopped speaking in gibberish and Clessa slowly lifted a roll of white banages off the table and pointed to Selene's wrapped up arms. Then she rubbed water on her own arm and wrapped it slightly. She hoped that Selene would get the message; she wished to clean her wounds. Luckily Selene seemed to understand and lowered her defensive position a bit. Then she took the bangles off and placed all but one aside. The glass bangle she held close to her as Clessa walked over with a bowl.

"Sit down Selene." Clessa said as she sat on the bed and set the bowl down on the nightstand. She patted the bed slightly and made a motion for Selene to come to her. Selene glanced at the man as he retreated down the hallway and slowly walked over to the bed and sat down. She did not understand what Clessa had said but she did understand the patting motion she made.

"So young, I wonder what you were doing out in those woods. Poor thing; you're covered in scratches. Luckily they don't seem too deep and there won't be any scarring." Selene started to drift off into her own thoughts as Clessa spoke gibberish, She gave up trying to understand and looked around the room. She felt the slight sting of alcohol being rubbed on her cuts but paid it little mind. She felt worse pain in her life... Unconciously Selene held the glass bracelet tighter as she thought of his face... His smile and then the utter sadness that filled his eyes. She pushed the memory in the back of her mind and looked at Clessa as she rewrapped her arms and legs then put a bandage over Selene's cheek.

«Ευχαριστω» (Thank you.) Clessa only smiled; obviously not understanding what was being said by the confused look, but smiled none the less. Then she walked out of the room as quickly as she came and Selene was alone once more. Selene sat on the edge of the bed putting her bangles back on her arms when Clessa walked back in and laid a dress out on the bed for her, then left the room closing the door once again. Selene looked at the dressed and wondered if it would be rude to cut the dress down to what she usually wore. She decided that Clessa may not appericate that and so she left the dress intact and put it on. The sleeves were long and draped down past her waist, while her skirt trailed down onto the floor dragging. She heard a knock at the door and Clessa said something before she walked in.

Selene was sat down in front of a mirror while Clessa brushed knots out of her hair. Selene held back a giggle; no one had brushed her hair like this sense she was a child. She watched Clessa with a slightly amused smile as she combed her wavy hair back and then started the braid certain areas and put them up. Once she finished half of Selene's hair loosely went down her back until it met her waist, the other half was tied up in a bun, and in the front a few pieces were left out to frame her face. Clessa clapped her hands together and smiled. She said something to Selene that she could not understand, patted her shoulders, then walked out. Selene stared at her self in the mirror and snickered lightly; but then her smile began to fade.

Her amusement soon turned to sadness as days passed by and she watched Clessa work around the house and help out Selene with various things. Clessa seemed kind enough and Erymir would smile, attempt to talk, and then leave. Regardless that she did not understand, he tried everytime the sun was rising to speak with her. They were both in danger just because Selene was here... There was no telling where her captors were now or how close they might be. Most of all she wanted to repay Clessa and Erymir for their kindness. One morning when Clessa came into to help her with her 'maila' (or as she learned Clessa called it; "hair") she took off one of her bangles and slid it onto Clessa's wrist. The woman seemed a bit surprised and tried to give it back but Serina shook her head and pushed it back onto her wrist. The next best thing she could do was leave. But she knew that Clessa was growing attatched and it would be hard for her to part with Selene. So she did what she thought was best; that night she took her sword, dress, and a comb and left the house while they slept.

The night air felt refreshing on her skin, for the past few days she barely left that room. It was slightly chilly but she thought that running would warm up her body. Soon the night air would not bother her any longer. Selene jogged through the town as she tried to figure out which way to go. She was unconcious when she was brought here so she was unsure of what direction would take her to and from the sea. Selene decided to find the river; the current would carry you to the sea so she walked upstream. She needed to get back home but how could she do that without knowing where she was first? She needed to find someone who she could speak to, someone who was not a kidnapping pirate.

**Note:**

**-There you go chapter 2! I hoped that you enjoyed this chapter and yes I am doing a language barrier, but fear not my readers! She will learn their language eventally. As for her name it is the name of the Greek Moon Goddess, Selene. Her Roman counter part is Luna. It took me a bit to decide what to name her and I decided to go with Selene.**

**-QUESTION FOR THE READERS: Do you want Selene to learn Elvish or Common Tongue (so basically English for them)? Or do you want her to learn both?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Note:**

**unbeausaumon: Thank you for catching that! I thought I changed all those. Selene started out as being brunette but then I decided to make her blonde. So yes, Selene is has white blonde hair.**

**nekoFlein: Thank you for your input. I have to agree with your statement and it makes the most logical sense that she would pick up one more than the other. And thank you for saying this was unique! I was a bit nervous to try this idea.**

**To everyone who has favorited and followed Ithil: thank you all for the support! It means much more than you might think! Also memories will be in **_**Italics**_**.**

_Chapter 3 - Selene meets Elves_

She had been jogging, and at times walking, for two days with little rest and only eating fruit that she found hanging from trees. Perhaps she should have planned better and took some food before she left? Instantly she felt awful for even thinking that way... Clessa was probably saddened that she left without a word, and she did not need to add to that by stealing food from her and Erymir. Selene shook her head and sighed as she grew light headed under the hot sun. She walked along the river for the past two days and she still felt like she was no where near her goal. No one had been in sight since she left Clessa and Erymir's home. For awhile it seemed as though she was walking in grass land and part of a destroyed forest, but as she continued on she noticed the forest becoming more and more alive. It was beautiful to say the least. Selene twirled slightly as she walked admiring the beautiful golden bark that seemed in glow in sunlight.

Selene sat down with her back against one of the trees and relaxed for a moment. She was tired and light headed, she needed to rest a little. She promised herself that she would not rest for long. She had much to do but she would allow herself a small break here and there. As Selene closed her eyes and let her entire body relax, she could smell flowers and hear the rushing water from the river more clearly then before. Selene opened her senses the more she relaxed and let the nature around her engulf her in bliss. She let out a sigh as memory started to reveal it's self. She heard familiar laughing in different tones; one deeper than the other. The sound of feet hitting the ground as they ran as another pair followed. Bees buzzing, a warm summer breeze twirling light hair, and the smell of flowers and water.

_There were two people running out of the walls of the kingdom, it was a boy and girl. They had gone under the wall and now out into a small forest that surrounded the east side of the palace. They were young still; the girl was no older than eleven, and the boy was at least sixteen. The girl ran ahead of the boy and hid behind trees. He would pretend to have trouble finding her and walk off in a different direction. He circled back around to her tree and grabbed her from behind, lifting her up in a quick motion. The young girl screamed and trashed around making the boy stumble back into a river. "Aither!"The girl yelled as she tried to get out of his arms and out of the river. «Συγγνωμη, μικρη μου θεα.» (sorry my little goddess.) The boy laughed as he spoke with sarcasm and the little girl hit him in the shoulder as she climbed out. The girl muttered;«Βλακα» (jerk.) as she tried to squeeze the water out of her fair hair. The older boy merely laughed as he climbed out of the river too. Selene tensed as the word Βλακα continued to ring in her ears until there was the sound of twigs snapping._

Selene's eyes snapped open and she quickly stood up. The world swayed around her for a moment as she become slightly disoriented from the quick movement. Soon all fell into place as an ugly greyish face came into view. He was not alone and she heard him laugh and say something to his companions. They all snarled and laughed as they pulled out swords with an odd tint to them. Selene drew her own sword and held her ground as her eyes darted to each of the three ugly creatures.

"Vras gruiuk!" (Kill the woman!) Selene had no clue what was said but she had a feeling that it was something around the lines of "attack" because they were all charging at her. Selene blocked the first creature's sword and shoved it back. Another one tried to slice her side but she moved quickly out of the way and cut through it's hand. It screeched and lunged at Selene and she quickly ran her blade through it's stomach. He coughed up blood on her face and she completely froze as it moved backwards. Her blade slid out of the creature as it fell to the ground. Black blood covered her sword and splattered onto her face slightly. In her shock Selene was knocked down by one of it's friends. Her sword was hit from her hand and off to the side. Selene tried to reach for it but felt two hands on her neck as she was being choked.

"Bartas." (scream) Selene felt it's hands tighten as the other remaining creature walked over to her and ran it's blade down her arm leaving a small cut. She heard it mutter something that sounded insulting and glared at it. It smiled showing it's yellow rotted teeth. Her vision was beginning to become dotted as she struggled with the creature that was strangling her. She heard it laughing but then an arrow impaled it's self in it's head. It's smile turned to a horrified frown, then it's hands loosened on her neck and it fell forward on top of her. Selene gasped for air and shoved the dead creature off of her. She saw men with golden or dark hair come out of trees and trails. One yelled "Orcs!" as more of the grey faced creatures came out of the woods. There must have been at least been thirteen, including the ones killed. The men attacked the creatures with no mercy and then captured the remaining creature and tied it up. Then they turned to Selene. As they looked at her she took note of how beautiful these men were; more than any she has seen before. They were all tall and lean but she could tell they were muscular at the same time.

"Ya naa tanya?" (Who is that?) One of the men asked another as he looked at Selene and walked over to her. She scooted back slightly and reached for her sword. But the arrows pointed at her made her stop and move her hand to her side as she glared at them.

"Ya naa lle?" (Who are you?) A blonde man asked as he followed the other man over to her, he had striking blue eyes and his hair had two braids in the front. He approached Selene slowly with his arrow pointed down but still notched. She didn't understand a word that has been said and numbly answered.

«Δεν καταλαβαινω τι λετε» (I do not understand.) The man kept a straight face but in his eyes she saw curiosity and confusion. Selene felt like this was the most common phase she had been using recently.

"Who are you?" The man tried in the same language that Clessa used and Selene felt her brow furrow slightly in frustration. Selene decided to try something different and used a second language used within her country.

"mujhē samajha nahīṁ ātā!" (I do not understand!) Selene growled slightly and the man sighed.

"You do not speak common tongue or elvish?" The man asked, but it seemed to be more like a statement. Selene did not answer, she was tired, confused, and annoyed with the lack of communication. The fair haired man turned to the others and said something. They had the creature, or what she assumed was called an Orc, tied up and a few began heading through the trees. One of the beautiful men grabbed her sword and Selene let out a cry of protest. She tried to lunge at him from her spot on the ground, but failed as she felt someone grab her and lift her off the ground. Selene screamed and thrashed around.

"Tampa tanya!" (Stop that!) The voice of the man carrying her yelled as he tried to keep Selene from kicking and biting at him. Selene managed to land a punch on the man in his shoulder. He grunted but did not release his grib on her. Selene tried to bite him again but he let go of her. She yelped slightly as she was dropped. Before she had time to stand she felt someone hit the back of her neck and everything went dark.

_Thid Person P.O.V changed from Limited to Omniscient_

"Valdon, mankoi lle uma tanya?." (Valdon, why did you do that?)

"He il dina." (she's not silent.) Valdon said as he lifted the unconcious girl off the ground and carried her. The elves walked quickly with their captured orc and human girl. Many were surprised to find a human, much less a woman in these parts. There were humans that lived in Ithilien but in this section of land it was mostly elves. The humans that were near lived in or around Eryn Arnen, or miles from this part of the forest, closer to the beach. Prince Legolas lead the company back to the colony he had established only a few years ago. They were all greeted by the ellith, all happy to see the return of the ellyn. The company of ellyn smiled at the ellith and walked through the colony to where they would be holding the orc for questioning.

Valdon, unsure of what to do with the woman they found walked over to Legolas. They briefly spoke of what options they had before Legolas decided that it was best to take her to the healing halls until she awoke. From there they would see what they could gather from her. Legolas went into his home to write a letter to Faramir and Aragorn. Faramir lived the nearest to them as they were only a couple miles out of Eryn Arnen. Perhaps he would know of this girl. Then he needed to inform Aragorn as well as Faramir that the Orcs were becoming more bold in entering Gondor and staying hidden in the forest. Legolas finished his two letters and gave them to messengers to send to Eryn Arnen and to Minas Tirith. Legolas left his study and left his house. He was going to see if the human girl had woken up but before he even got to the halls of healing he received his answer.

The sound of shouting came from the halls. However it was not elvish or Weston shouting, but something entirely different. There were many healers in one of the rooms trying to calm and soothe one of their patients to no avail. The woman that was laying in the bed was trashing around and yelling something they could not understand. Two of the elves had to hold her arms down while another cleaned the cut on her forearm. Valdon ran into the room only moments before Legolas entered as well.

"Mellonamin, mani marte?" (My friend, what happened?) Legolas asked Valdon.

"Amin umma hanya." (I don't know)

«Αφηστε με!» (Release me!) Selene's voice broke through the short conversation that Legolas and Valdon were having. It was amazing how humans could express so much and not fully know it. Valdon saw the anger, confusion, sadness, exhaustion, and another emotion that he couldn't place in her eyes.

"You do not have to worry, we do not mean you harm milady." Legolas' voice cut through Valdon's thoughts. He watched as his leader tried to convince the woman that he was not an enemy but she seemed to not understand.

"What is your name?" Valdon asked. He saw her pause for a moment as she stared at him. There was slight regonition in her eyes but she quickly returned to struggling. Selene recognized the question slightly, it sounded like what Clessa and Erymir had asked her.

"What is your name?" Valdon asked again; he waited patiently for the answer. He thought that he would not get one and saw Selene pull her arm free from one of the healers. Instead of hitting the healer Selene brought hand to her chest and looked confused. Legolas watched as she patted herself with a bit of confusion. She patted herself again and mumbled; Selene. Legolas watched her repeat the action and his eyes widened slightly in realization.

"Your name is Selene?" Legolas asked but the woman didn't seem to know what he was saying. He knew she recognized the question Valdon asked, but she did not understand him asking her to confirm it. Valdon watched and then walked over to Selene and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Selene?" He asked, trying to also confirm it as a name.

"Selene." The fair haired woman said and put her hand over his on her shoulder. Things seemed to calm down, that is until Selene grabbed Valdon's hand and yanked it down to her mouth and bit it.

«Που ειναι το σπαθι μου?» (Where is my sword?) She asked in a harsh yet calm tone. Valdon withdrew his hand and growled at the human girl, she had the nerve to bite him!

"Amin feuya ten' lle!" (You disgust me!) Valdon said in an equally harsh tone. He and the human glared at each other until Legolas put his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Go, I'll deal with her." Legolas felt like it was best for Valdon to leave the room.

"I'll go disinfect my hand." Valdon glared at the girl one last time before he left the room. As he left Selene could not but hope he had gone to get her sword, but she doubted it. The girl turned and looked into the light blue eyes that seemed to be watching her intensely. Legolas stared back into her grey eyes as he tried to think of how to communicate with this human.

**Note:**

**-So the two languages that Selene mostly uses is Hindu and Greek. Greek is what she knows best and so she uses that more. As always review and favorite!**

**-So before someone says I spelt Elleth and Ellon wrong, I'm using their plurals.**

**-Also if anyone was confused about the p.o.v change. Limited is when it's third person but you know more about one person, it taps into their feelings and thoughts. Omniscient is when the narrator knows everyone's thoughts and feelings. Just to clear up any confusion. That's why I didn't refer to them as elves in limited; because Selene would not know that.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Note**:

**-I got a new and improved translations for elvish, so yay! Better stuff! I'm also really proud of this chapter and super excited to post it. I hope you all like it and leave a review.**

**-Any Memories will be in italics. Also this chapter will start out as Omniscient.**

_Chapter 4 - Books left by Gandalf_

_Third Person POV - Omniscient_

Legolas had a couple interesting hours with the human girl who apparently was called Selene. He didn't realize just how difficult speaking with the woman would be, she had no clue what he was trying to say and would only repeat «Που ειναι το σπαθι μου?» (Where is my sword?) in either annoyed, upset, or angry tones. By a stroke of luck a few hours later a guard had came by to return the sword he had taken from Selene. Unfortunately for him he was nearly bit, kicked, and punched for holding the object of her obsession. The only thing that seemed to go in Legolas' favor was that she had calmed drastically and he learned that σπαθί must mean sword. That was what she was calling the weapon after all, unless that was what she named her blade; but he doubted that.

While she had been angry Selene's eyes seemed to be a stormy grey. It showed all the turmoil that she was feeling inside, and Legolas could relate to that. After all, he had his prized bow and the thought of not knowing where it was would be enough to even cause him to loose his calm demeanor. Legolas did not think that was all that troubled the young woman, she seemed to be in grief beyond the loss of her sword. When she had her weapon returned to her her eyes seemed to clear into a paler and more relaxed grey. However there was still much hurt within them. Grief that would have long ago killed one of his own kind.

Legolas continued to stare at Selene and she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. Her cheeks were slightly heated from embarrassment. Her father would be so ashamed to have seen how she acted. She was a grown woman of high status and to act as she did would only bring embarrassment to her parents if they were alive to witness it. She looked back at his blue eyes but could not quite read them. They seemed to bore right through her and into her very soul. As if they were exposing all her secrets and judging her mistakes. Selene looked away from his eyes.

«Γιατι με κοιτας ετσι?» (why do you stare?) Selene murmured in a soft but uncomfortable tone. She heard a sigh in response and felt a bit relieved that he did not speak. It would not do her any good if she could not understand him. Legolas looked at the girl in front of him and held out a hand to her. He watched her gaze slowly move to his hand, up his arm, and to his face. Her eyes were as expressive as any other humans and he recognized confusion in them. He motioned for her to get up and moved his hand closer to hers. They both seemed frozen for minutes as she stared at his hand. Legolas hoped that he would be more fortunate than Valdon, and not be bitten. Legolas proved to be more fortunate and instead of biting him Selene slowly put her hand in his and allowed him to pull her onto her feet.

"Khila amin." (follow me.) Legolas said and then walked into the hallway beckoning Selene to follow him. Selene stayed where she was for a moment. She understood the gesture to follow but she couldn't help but wonder if he had just insulted her. Then she heard his voice from the hall.

"Selene, khila amin." (Selene, follow me.) Selene hesitated for a moment before she walked after the blonde. She saw him waiting the the hall but once he saw her he began walking again. Selene followed behind him with her hand rested on the hilt of her sword. Where was he taking her? Selene felt herself becoming more and more unsettled as they ventured deeper into the corridor. Legolas could sense her unease and when he stopped walking she nearly ran into his back.

"We're here." He said in common tongue as he opened the door he stopped in front of. Selene's shoulders relaxed slightly when she saw that he had taken her to a room and not a dungeon. He walked inside and she quickly followed him. He looked back and opened his mouth only to shut it again. For the first time she saw that he looked somewhat frustrated. It was a bit surprising to see his mask slip but he quickly put it back up as he met her eyes.

"You will stay here. Um..." Legolas struggled to find a way to let her know she would be staying in this room for the time being.

"Selene... Selene's room." Legolas spread his arms out to motion to the room but she just stared at him He did it again two more times but she would only stare at him. He began to wonder if she was gathering anything that he was trying to communicate.

"Selene... Um-" Legolas stopped trying to speak when he heard a snicker that was quickly covered his a cough. He saw clear amusement in her eyes as well as a smile that she was trying to cover with a cough and her hand. He stood still with his arms still spread out and Selene laughed again.

«Χιλια συγγνωμη, αλλα φαινεσαι ανοητος.» (I apologize but you look silly.) Selene said and giggled again. Legolas looked a bit confused and embarrassed as he realized she was laughing at him. He didn't understand what he had done that was so humurous to her. Selene finally stopped her laughing and seemed to become tense again. Legolas saw her sit but her hand was still resting on the hilt of her sword ready to draw any moment. Legolas took his leave and walked out of the room and looked to the sky. It was night now. When they first got here it was still early morning, afternoon when she had awaken as well as when he sent his letter. Then now it must be sometime in the evening, late at that. Hopefully the messenger has already delivered the message, but Legolas knew it would likely be a day before he would hear any response.

Legolas sighed slightly as he walked aimlessly through the halls. A lot was on his mind with recent Orc attacks and now some human girl turned up as well. An unusal one at that. Her features were different than any humans he had met her and her attire was strange as well. But by her attitude and attachment to that sword he knew she must have been a warrior, or wished to be one as Lady Eowyn did at one point. But Eowyn had suceeded and showed her strength in the war. Legolas felt a bit grim as he recalled those memories, they were the most adventure as well as heartache he had. Frodo left along with Gandalf and many of the other elves. He sighed and opened the door he ended up in front of.

As Legolas stepped in he felt rather surprised; he had ended up in the library. Legolas walked into the collection of books and began to look for something to read. Perhaps it would put his mind at ease. As he walked he went to a section of books that Gandalf had given him before he left to the Grey Havens. Legolas' eyes scrimmed over the shelf until they landed on one he had not read before. The leather bound book was very old and he careful removed it from the shelves.

_First Person POV - Selene_

I slowly moved my hand off of the hilt of my sword as the strange man left the room. I scolded myself mentally for letting my guard down as I did. I should not have been laughing as carefree as I was. I did not know this man nor his intentions. While he may not have seemed to be an awful person I cannot sit by airheadedly and trust so easily. People are decieving and do unexpected things all the time. They betray you, hurt you, and sometimes you meet ones who support you. But to assume that all will be supportive and nice is foolish, I have already learned that lesson, and the price paid was awful. I moved over to the bed and laid down moving my sword off my hip and down beside me.

Panic seemed to leave my body and I was overcome with exhaustion. My limps felt sore and tingled lightly as my eye lids grew heavier by the passing second. Slowly my eyes closed and darkness overcame me.

. . . . . . . . .

_Light... Light blinded me as I looked up at the sun peaking through white clouds._

_«Θα μου πεις παλι για 'εκεινο'?» (Will you tell me about it again?) I asked from my spot in the grass, my hair swirled around in the wind._

_«Για ποιο?» (About what?) A strong and deep voice came from my side. It was a voice that I had grown so accusome to over the long years. It never changed and it seemed as though nothing could change the light hearted and carefreeness of it._

_«Ξερεις για ποιο! Για την περιπετεια σου περα απ'τη θαλασσα!» __(You know what, that adventure you took over seas.) I said only to be responded with a chuckle at first._

_«Μα στην εχω ξαναπει.» (But you have already heard that one.)_

_«Δε με νοιαζει, ειναι η αγαπημενη μου ιστορια, Aither» (I do not care, it is my favorite Aither.) I said and turned onto my side so I was facing him. He did not change since we were younger. He still looked as handsome as he did when he was sixteen. I on the other hand had grown more and the diadem on my head symbolized my place within our society. He rolled his eyes and rolled onto his back staring up at the sky._

_«Τι θες να σου πω? Ηταν υπεροχα! Το φαγητο τους ηταν διαφορετικo και παρ' ολο που ηταν νεοι, ηταν δυνατοι και εξυπνοι. Ηταν.πανεμορφα πλασματα που θα μπορουσαν ανετα να προερχονται απο την ιδια την Αφροδιτη. Εμαθα πολλα απο αυτους και μαλιστα τα εγραψα ολα σ' ενα βιβλιο, αλλα το εχω αφησει εκει. Δεν συνειδητοποιησα πως δεν ηταν μεσα στη τσαντα μου. Οπως και να εχει ,ομως, δεν μπορω να γυρισω εκει. Η θεση μου ειναι εδω» (What do you want me to say? It was amazing. The food was different and even though they were new they were strong and smart. There were beautiful creatures who could easily be related to Aphrodite herself. I learned much from them and wrote down many things in a book, but I have left it there. I didn't realize I left it out of my bag but I cannot go back. My place is here.) I felt myself smile as he spoke, the place he mentioned sounded amazing._

_. . . . . . . . ._

_But that shifted to a darker time. I watched him putting on his armor as he readied himself for war._

_«Μην φυγεις!» (Don't go.) I said angrly, but Aither did not listen as he lifted the helmet of my people onto his head._

_«Δε θα πεθανω» (I will not die.)_

_«Μα δε χρειαζεται να αναμειχθεις! Δεν υπαρχει τιποτα για το οποιο να αξιζει να παλεψεις!» (But you do not need to be invovled. There is nothing that you need to fight for!)_

_«Υπαρχεις εσυ!» (There is you!) He shouted back at me. I was stunned into silence as he sighed. I could not find the words to respond as he walked to a desk in the corner of the room._

_«Υπαρχεις εσυ__...__» (There is you...) He repeated__ in a __ calmer__ tone__ and took a bracelet out of his desk and walked back over to me. I stood still as he slid a bracelet onto my wrist. It was made of glass and__ was__ light, it was the most beautiful thing I __had ever seen__. I looked at him and he sighed as he saw the look in my eyes._

_«Μη με ακολουθησεις, Selene. Μεινε εδω, σε εγκλιπαρω, μεινε εδω..» (Do not follow Selene. Stay here, I beg you, stay here.) I watched him walk out of the door to meet with the other soilders and looked down at the bracelet. I narrowed my eyes before grabbing one of the many spare swords he owned and ran out._

_. . . . . . . . ._

_The scene shifted once more. I was in a dark place and I appraoched a large throne where a grim man sat. His eyes were dark as coal and his skin was pale. I kneeled before his throne and felt myself becoming numb. Time passed in a blink of an eye and I saw a man speaking to the one in the throne. They were arguing but I did not understand what was said. All I heard was the man say «Συμφωνοι.» (Deal.) The numbness was ripped away as they shook hands, only the god in the throne did not let go of the young man's. He fell to his knees and coughed up blood. I screamed as I was forced back at an unblievable speed._

_"AITHER!"_

**Note**

**-So I decided to give you a first person POV because I figured it would help you connect with Selene more as a character. What did you guys think of that and do you want to see more first person, more third, or do you not care either way?**

**-Roxygirl (guest): Oh my gods, thank you for your feedback! I would love your help in the future but I can't PM you. Also if you're referring to the boy calling the girl 'goddess' it was just a teasing sort of nickname. Selene was that little girl and since her name is Selene and that's the goddess of the moon it was his nickname for her.**

**-Secret Moon Princess: Thank you for your advice. I understand your point and will refrain from doing that in the future.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes:**

**-I want to apologize for the late posting. I know it's no excuse but I have been dealing with a lot of school stress and family problems. So I have not been in a writing mood but I'm going to try and get back on track.**

_Chapter 5 – Learning_

_Third Person Limited - Legolas_

He was sitting in the study looking over the book he had found. It was all very odd to him, the language would switch between common tongue and some other language. The most notable thing was that while it was in Gandalf's collection the handwriting in the book did not belong to the wizard. He flipped through the pages until a page caught his attention. There were a list of words such as hello with something written next to it in the other language. Translations for common tongue perhaps? Legolas' eyes skimmed the page and his brow furrowed. He has never seen this language before; perhaps there were other books in the same language elsewhere in the library? Honestly he wasn't too sure on that but there was a chance that there were. Elves were the first born and Legolas knew his father had an extensive collections of languages used currently, or were at one time used. He didn't take all of the books but he grabbed a few. Perhaps he would get lucky and have the one needed. Legolas got up to search through books when his elven hearing picked up a scream.

"AITHER!" Legolas nearly dropped the book in surprise but managed to hold onto it. He placed it on a table then quickly left the room. He already had a feeling he knew where the scream had came from and his suspicions were confirmed when he saw many other elves gathering around the human's room, while a few others walked quickly inside. Legolas jogged past the crowd and entered the room as well.

_Third Person Limited - Selene_

_... Five minutes earlier..._

Selene was laying in bed when she woke from the memory. She bolted up right as she screamed out for Aither. Selene put her hand over her heart as she tried to calm her breathing. She closed her eyes for a moment as she felt her heart slowing down a bit but then sound of very light thudding was coming her way. Selene barely heard it but her suspicions were confirmed as many pointed eared people hurried into her room. He watched them speak to each other in hushed but obviously concerned tones. Selene sighed and put her head down into her hands as she tried to clear her mind. Her eyes burned with the tears she must have shed in her sleep.

"Selene?" Selene lifted her head as Legolas slid into the room.

"Le mae?" (Are you well?) Legolas asked. Selene did not know what was said but by his tone she figured it was a question.

«Αυτο το πραγμα δε μας οδηγει πουθενα. Δε βγαζεις κανενα νοημα.» (I do not believe that this is working in the slightest. You make no sense to me.) Selene muttered irritably. Legolas sighed, and she assumed it was probably her tone that made him react that way. Selene watched him turn and tell something to the other people in the room. They all nodded and bowed before leaving her bedroom.

Selene said nothing as the others left and Legolas stayed. She knew that speaking was useless when he did not understand her and she could not understand him in the slightest. It was growing more and more frustrating. They seemed to have a little staring contest until Selene looked away after feeling uncomfortable. Selene pulled her pillow out from behind her and set it on her lab. It had designs sewn into it and she began tracing it with her fingers as she attempted to ignore the gaze from the other person in the room.

"Pesseg." (pillow) Selene looked up from her lap and stared at the man confused. Legolas stood up and walked over to her before touching the edge of the pillow.

"Pesseg." He repeated. Selene looked down at his hand and thought of hitting it away since it was unnervingly close to her but he didn't seem to mean any harm and he was touching the pillow. Selene watched him as he lifted it off of her lap and motioned to it.

"Pesseg." Legolas said once more and then wordlessly watched her.

"Pesseg?" Selene questioned and slowly moved her hand up and pointed towards the pillow he was holding. Legolas smiled and nodded.

«μαξιλάρι, Legolas.» (pillow, Legolas) Selene said and held out her hand to him.

«μαξιλάρι?»

"Pesseg, μαξιλάρι." Selene pointed to the pillow and then held her hand out for it again. This time Legolas handed her the pillow. That was how it went for a good hour. One of them would point at something and say what it was then repeat it. So far Selene learned; ihaw (ears), tegnil (pen), coll (cloak), megil (sword), parf (book), and haust (bed). Then Selene started to return the favor by pointing out various objects in the room and saying what they were in her language. The hour passed quickly before Legolas had left. Selene was a bit happier to know she could at least say something but remembering was the problem. After he left the room Selene got off the bed and grabbed what he called a tegnil (pen) and parf (book) and wrote down what she could remember in her language. She felt a little bad for writing all over the book but she was desperate and she needed to know how to at least communicate a bit.

Selene wrote down what she could remember and what they meant in her language. Honestly the thought of having to repeat a word constantly until she received what she needed and wanted made her feel like a spoiled child. Unfortunately she had no other choice in the matter if she wished to speak with them. Selene wrote down what she remembered in a neat handwriting that her instructors spent years making her improve upon. Selene placed the book quietly down on the table beside her bed and looked out the window. Over the trees she could see the sky gradually becoming lighter as the Apollo drove his chariot into the sky. Selene attempted to close her eyes to get more rest but the images of Aither shaking hands to seal the deal repeated. Her screams echoed in her head as she opened her eyes again. She would not have anymore rest on this day. Selene started to get out of bed when three women gracely entered her room.

"Suilad, Faervel i eneth nín." (Greetings, my name is Faervel.) The tallest one spoke up and bowed her head. The two behind her followed her example and said their names Enethel and Curunis. Faervel had long medium brown hair that was braided to the side and rested over her right shoulder. She wore a laurel green colored dress with flowery patterns on it and long draped sleeves. Enethel and Curunis looked identical with black hair and light brown eyes. Curunis had slightly longer hair than Enethel, and she wore a short sleeved moss green dress. Enethel on the other hand wore a light grey dress with a seafoam surcoat. Selene was too busy studying them to notice the long gown that Enethel had in her arms. It was not until Enethel and Faervel quickly stripped her and Curunis shut the door and curtains that Selene had realized what was happening.

«Μπορω και μονη μου!» (I can do it!) Selene shouted, but they did not listen and quickly forced the gown on her. Selene struggled to free herself from the three women but her limbs were being pulled in different directions all at the same time as her head was engulfed in fabric. Luckily it was over relatively quickly and Selene found herself looking in a mirror. The dress was a deep purple and she had sleeves similar to the ones on Faervels' dress. Selene could not help but feel like she was swimming in fabric and that the color of the dress made her look paler than usual. Before she could attempt to protest she was forced to sit down as the women worked on her hair. Selene sat in the chair quietly after realizing they were attempting to assist her get ready. She was surprised that they came in this early, the sun had barely risen. Selene tapped her nails uncomfortably on the wooden arm of the chair as her hair was braided in some areas. Once they had finished Selene looked in the mirror and was quite surprised by what she saw. Her bangs were neatly combed in their normal fashion but she saw a braid trailing down to the side of her hair and into a loose bun that hung low and close to her neck. Selene gently touched her hair to study it more but the motion behind her in the mirror caught her attention. Selene turned as Faervel, Enethel, and Curunis bowed their heads and spoke in unison.

"Garo arad vaer." (Have a good day.) After they spoke all of them quickly stood up straight and left the room. Selene watched them until they were gone and then looked back at her own reflection.

**Replies to Reviews:**

**-Twisted Tongues; I already responded to you in a PM but I thought I should clarify your question for everyone since others may be confused. The country Selene is from is not Greece. It is a completely made up place with mixed cultures .**

**-Roxygirl: I'm glad I made you smile. Also thank you for the help but I already have a really good website. I'm using Council of Elrond. And yea the links will do that in PMs and on the posts/reviews, but I don't know why. I will keep your offer in mind with an OC but if we were to do that I'd want you to have my e-mail or make an account to PM me. I'm sorry if that is a little inconvenient for you.**

**-AbigailPeters: thank you for the suggestion. Selene will learn a bit of Elvish but mostly common tongue. However she'll likely start learning elvish first then stuff happens.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Note:**

**I am sorry for the wait but chapter 6 is finally here. I'm trying to slowly transition her into learning their language but it will take a bit of time. So I'm curious: Do you guys want to see her struggle and eventually learn common tongue and a bit of elvenish? Or would you rather have a time skip to where she can at least form semi-nice sentences and continue the learning process from there?**

_Chapter 6 Prisoner_

_First Person POV – Selene_

I tripped over my dress twice while trying to leave my room. I glared at the stupid fabric and held handfuls of it to attempt to make it easier to walk but it wasn't. Another thing was that I felt like I was going to overheat and the sleeves on this accursed dress were covering my hands by a good few inches. I managed to get out of the door and down the hallway, only to then trip down the stairs. I landed mostly on the left side of my back and growled out in frustration.

«Αυτο το φορεμα θα με παιθανει!» (This dress will be the death of me!) I shouted angrily. By now there were many eyes on me but I could care less. I walked grudgingly through the courtyard trying to pull up more of the dress. How could women walk in these things? It was like a tent! I could have sworn I heard a little bit of snickering coming from a few of the people around me; but they all had a very serious and calm face on that it was hard to tell for sure. I decided to ignore them and walked faster, but it was hard to ignore them when the snickers and laughter got louder when I stumbled over the fabric that I couldn't hold in my hands. I was starting to wonder why I even came out of my room… I looked and felt rather stupid while walking around.

So I ended up circling back to my room and quickly retreated in the only place that felt safe. Everything else was completely new and strange. The people, their features, the clothes, and the way they acted… I leaned my back against the wall and slowly slid down until I was sitting. I toyed with the fabric for a moment before dropping it on the ground. I pulled myself off the ground and walked (stumbled) over to the table over by the balcony and picked up my sword. I unsheathed the sword and looked at my reflection in it before swiftly bringing it down on the dress.

_Change of POV – Third Person_

The men grumbled as they walked through the forest; searching for the damn girl. The Captain was angry with the loss; and two men were already beheaded for their part in her escape. The pirates broke up into groups to cover more ground in searching for her. They had to find her before her people found this land and saw the ship. In the back of the group another woman had her hands bound tightly behind her back and a gag in her mouth. Her eyes held a furious fire and she often kicked and tried to somehow fight the men around her. The woman's hair was so dark brown that it was nearly black as tight dark curls hung down in front of her eyes. The rest of her hair was loosely tied back exposing her ears that had unique piercings. The dress she wore was ripped around her legs and her feet were bare and bruised. She was to be their bargaining tool and last effort; the weakness they needed to expose. Well that was if they could keep her long enough.

_Third Person – Legolas_

Legolas had gone back to the study after dealing with Selene. He was glad that she seemed to pick up things relatively quickly; but they still would have a long way to go. There was the secondary issue of her violence. There seemed to be little things that would trigger her anger; the only one he witnessed was the taking of her sword. It seemed to be rather precious to her and she was protective over it. It was not uncommon to find people attached to weapons; but the fact that she was a human woman made it unusual. Many of the men he met would never let their wives, daughters, or sisters fight. The only one he had ever met was Falamir's wife; Eoywn. And she had disguised herself as a man in order to sneak her way into battle.

Legolas shook off the memory of the war of the ring and looked at the leather bound book he left in the library. Luckily no one moved it so it was still in the same place he left it. The book still puzzled him a bit and he had no idea how to pronounce things let alone read it. He was fairly sure that it was a translation book for common tongue into a different language. He just did not recognize the language it translated in. He got out a paper and quill to write a letter to his father. Perhaps he would be able to place the language somewhere; or maybe even have more books in his library that matched this one.

It would have been ideal to get Gandalf since it was a book in his possession; however it would not be possible. Not while he went to the undying lands long ago. So Legolas' father would have to do for now. The elf wrote a quick and rather small letter to his father. They were not on the best terms after Legolas decided to create a small colony near Gondor. So he was aware he might not receive help from him; and he could not afford to lose this book right now. Legolas copied a page down on a separate paper to the best of his abilities before folding the two papers together. He sent the letter out with a different messenger since his favored one was still with Falamir.

After he sent that one off to Eryn Lasgalen (1) (Mirkwood) he sat at one of the open tables in the library to think of his next course of action. He was waiting on the return of his messenger from Falamir, and one of his others as set out to Eryn Lasgalen. The problem with the human girl would have to wait until he got word of Falamir, and his curiosity of the mysterious language would have to wait until his father sent a reply. He groaned slightly as he knew that the language would be a several weeks wait. Luckily Falamir should not take more than a few days. Legolas was lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear the scolding tone of an elf or the annoyed tone of a mysterious language. That was until there was a shout of anger and a door slamming.

**Notes:**

**Hey sorry this is a little short but it seemed like a good place to stop this chapter. The next chapter a messenger will return so they will set some things into motion. Also I introduced a new character earlier than I thought I would but oh well. You will learn more about her in a few chapters. Also I want to thank everyone who has followed me. Over this week you can ask questions about Selene and the story and in the next chapter I'll answer them in an authors note.**

**Eryn Lasgalen was what Mirkwood was renamed after the war of the ring; for those who did not know.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Note: I am so sorry for the long wait. Lots of stuff have been happening lately and I haven't had a muse or time for updating. But I do feel bad for not updating in so long so I made this longer than usual.**

**-Also I'm going to address Secret Moon Princess' concern to the public: "Aww. Poor Legolas xD He just doesn't know what to do with himself. BUT THEY KILLED THE FARMER GUY WHO HELPED HER! D NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I HOPE HIS WIFE KILLS YOU AND FEEDS YOUR ROTTING CORPSE TO THEWOLVES! Uggh. I'm slightly devastated. :/ But I guess that's pay-back for what I did to you my last chapter xP" - I hope everyone will breathe a sigh of relief at this: they did not kill the people who helped Selene in the second chapter. They killed the pirates who were with her when she escaped. So do not worry the farmer dude is alive and so is his wife. P.S: the character that was tied up is not the farmer's wife Clessa. It is a completely different oc.**

_Chapter 7 Trying to Escape_

_First Person - Unknown Woman's POV_

Dark brown curls hung in front of my eyes as we sat along the trees for a break from walking. My eyes trained on the leader of the group as I quietly worked on loosening the ropes that were tied around my wrists and pulled behind my back. I could barely feel the pain in my feet anymore; whether I walked on grass, dirt, rock, or wood, it all now felt the same to my bruised feet. My arms were beginning to feel numb from the position they were in but I would not let it show and continued to work on the bonds. Two men sat at both my sides too confident in themselves to notice that I had been trying to loosen the ropes on my arms ever sense they sat me down in front of a tree. They were bastards and idiots; I would make them pay for everything the cowards did.

I kept glaring at everyone in the small search group we were in as I rotated my wrists a bit and noticed that I managed to loose the ropes a little. But it wasn't enough yet so I kept stretching and turning the rope in an attempt to loosen it more. I continued the same processes for around a half hour until I felt like the rope was loose enough to do what I had planned. The captain and two other pirates left into the woods to search for food. There were still four other people sitting around the place we were resting in; probably to keep an eye on me. I decided that now would be the best time to attempt an escape sense the group was now split up.

I shifted around before letting myself fall onto my side as the two pirates next to me laughed as I stayed on the ground. One of the pirates had a black hair, and long scar that went down the side of his left cheek and down the side of his neck. The other man beside me had a golden earring in his right ear and was shirtless exposing a tattoo of a mermaid on his left arm. The other two who were left here sat by a fire that they had started. One of them had patch covering his left eye and a beard, while the other had a shaven face and a few golden teeth when he grinned. I nicknamed them scar, mermaid, eye batch, and goldie in my mind.

«Τι εγινε? Δεν μπορεις να σηκωθεις?» (What's the matter? Can't get yourself back up?) The man with scar asked as he laughed and no one bothered to help me back up. Good, I didn't want them to. I shot him a glare; pretending that the fall was an accident as I scooted away lightly "trying" to get back up.

«Γιατι στο διαολο δεν τη σκοτωνουμε? Τιποτα καλο δε θα βγει απο την παρουσια της εδω!» (Why the hell don't we just kill this woman? Nothing good will come out of her being here.) Goldie grumbled as he eyed me suspiciously.

«Εντολες του καπετανιου» (The captain's orders.) A gruff voice answered, it was Eye Patch. The two of them argued back and forth about if the captain was wise to be keeping me alive. Goldie claiming that they ought to slit my throat and use me as bait for the Queen. I wanted to snort at that comment but I remained silent as the other two beside me got into the conversation. For a moment I was forgotten and that was all the time I needed. I slid my arms down and rolled up sitting on my hands and the rope. Next I pulled my knees up and lifted one leg a little at a time bringing my bound arms in front of my body instead of behind me.

Mermaid noticed the change of where my arms were and before he could shout out in warning, I ran behind him and brought my arms over his head down to his neck. The rope now was around his neck and I pulled back and began choking him. The struggle gained the attention of the three other men who quickly ran at me and Mermaid. I stopped choking him and pulled my hands over his head again, freeing him of the rope around his neck and kicked him forward into Eye Patch. Scar quickly threw punches at me and I managed to dodge them and shove my entire body weight into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him, then swiftly kicked him in the groin. I made quick work of Goldie and thrust my hands upward into his nose. There was a satisfying crack as he held his nose as blood gushed out.

I turned on my heel and ran into the woods to make them loose sight of me as Eye Patch and Mermaid stood up and ran after me into the woods. My hands were still tied together but now with them in front of me I had more range of motion to fight. I stepped on the fabric on my dress and heard a tare as I fell forward and slid a few feet into the grass and dirt. I scraped up my arms more but paid little attention to it as I scrambled to try to get back to my feet and continue running. But the sudden pressure on my back stopped me from doing so.

«Καπετάνιος!» (Captain!) I heard Eye Patch and Mermaid yell.

«Δεν μπορειτε καν να προσεχετε τη φιλακισμενη! Ειλικρινα, δεν μπορω να αφησω τιποτα σε εσας, ετσι?» (Couldn't even keep an eye on our little prisoner. Honestly, I can't leave anything to you bunch can I?) The leader said with an annoyed tone as he put more pressure on my back. I turned slightly and glared at him. The man simply grinned at me and brought his foot off my back and kicked me in the head. I remembered feeling myself get pushed onto my back and my hands untied before everything went black.

_First Person - Selene's POV_

I was glaring at the woman who barged into my room after Faervel blushed, then shrieked, and ran out of my room as if Lord Hades was on her tail. I honestly didn't understand what happened to cause her to have that sort of reaction. Then a tall woman with blonde hair and sparkling green eyes entered the room and looked at me angrily.

"Man agorech?!" (What did you do?!) The tall blonde shouted at me. I frowned not understanding as she pointed a long slim finger to my gown. I looked down wondering if there was a bug on it or something but I didn't see anything wrong with it.

«Δεν καταλαβαινω γιατι φαινεσαι τοσο αναστατωμενη.» (I do not understand why you seem upset.) I said to her but she just looked confused; then angry and walked over to me swiftly and grabbed my arm with one hand and then grabbed the cut up fabric off the ground with her other.

"Tiro!" (Look!) She shouted again and shoved the fabric in my face. I growled and hit the fabric out of her hand and grabbed her wrist to force her to let go of my arm.

«Μη μ' αγγιζεις με τετοια οικειοτητα!» (Do not touch me so easily!) I shouted back at her. Faervel had re-entered the room and looked at me uneasily. The tall blonde woman and I shouted back and forth. I didn't know what she was saying to me but I for one was insulting her on her lack of manners. Eventually I started to walk towards her and forced her to back up out of the room. Faervel hurried out of the room moments before I forced the annoying blonde woman out. I shouted at her and slammed the door on her.

"Ai!" (Ah!) I heard the blonde girl's voice through the door. It sounded like a scream; probably nearly caught her in the door. I knew that it was rude to slam a door in the face of the people who were trying to help me. But that woman had no right to treat me as if I was some child who did wrong. I sighed and leaned my back against the door. For a few moments there were angry whispers coming from, who I assumed, was the blonde woman from earlier. But suddenly I heard a deeper voice that I recognized as Legolas. I only heard bits of what was said sense most of it was muffled by the door. Although I didn't understand any of it, so I sort of ignored it. That was until I could feel the door shake slightly when someone knocked on it.

"Selene?" Legolas called through the door.

«Φυγε!» (Go away!) I yelled back, I didn't want to have to deal with him right now. I was also rather ashamed of my behavior now that it really occurred to me how rude I was to that woman. Perhaps she was upset that I altered the dress without permission... That would explain why she shoved fabric in my face. I sighed and rested my head on my knees; my parents would turn in their graves if they saw how I acted.

"Aníron peded, Selene." (Selene, I wish to speak.) Legolas called through the door again. All I understood was my name but his tone didn't sound angry. Perhaps a little bit tired and if I heard it correctly, maybe a bit worried as well. I sighed as I stood up from my seated position and pulled the door open. Once Legolas saw me his entire face turned a bright pink color that reached all the way up to his pointed ears. I couldn't help but notice that It was the same reaction I received from Faervel when she came into my room about twenty minutes earlier, although he didn't shriek and run from the room. Instead Legolas took off a cloak he wore and quickly handed it to Faevrel as she covered me while he looked away. It was in that moment it dawned on me why they were blushing and I felt heat rise in my cheeks as well.

_Third Person - Legolas' POV_

Legolas could tell when she yelled from the other side of the door that Selene was obviously upset. He frowned slightly, he had one angry human woman and an angry elleth as well. Then there was Faervel who seemed to be in too much shock to speak about what happened when she went to check on Selene earlier. Legolas tried again to get Selene to talk to them and this time it seemed to work when his elven hearing picked up on her moving and the door opening. He didn't know what to expect when she opened the door but it wasn't to see her unproperly dressed. Legolas felt his entire face heat up at the sight of Selene.

Her dress was a deep purple, well if it could still be called a dress. The sleeves on the dress were cut down to be just a few inches below her shoulders while the collar of her dress was cut down to show her collarbone. She had cut the entire middle section of her dress and now her stomach was completely exposed, while the skirt of the dress was shortened to her ankles but she created a slit that went up to her knee on her right leg. Legolas had never seen a woman so under dressed before and it showed in how red his face became. Legolas quickly took his cloak off and handed it to Faervel who quickly understood his intentions and covered Selene. Legolas averted his eyes from the human in front of him; his blush still a bright pinkish red color on his cheeks.

Once Selene was properly covered he looked back at her and saw her face heat up as well. He recognized as her eyes widened in realization that she was not appropiately dressed. Legolas saw Selene pull the cloak around her tighter and quietly repeated saying; "συγνώμη". Legolas watched as her head bowed and she looked embarrassed and a bit ashamed. Her body language was tense and she kept repeating the same thing; while mostly looking at Faervel and the blonde elleth, Larien. It finally settled in that Selene was apologizing to the two woman. However she didn't glance in Legolas' direction, and he figured it was out of embarrassment, because every time she did Selene would blush harder than before. At that moment a messenger came into the hall with word from Faramir.

**Note:**

**Response to Reviews:**

**Seafarer: "I like this, it's very intriguing. I think that your use of Greek is very clever, and I am looking forward to the next chapter." - Thank you!**

**GreviousPridakArbiter: "Is she speaking Greek? This looks like Greek letters." - Yes, Selene is from a made up country who's main language is Greek but she can speak a little bit of Hindi as well.**

**Punkywarhammer: "Well done! Looking forward to reading more soon. (but I think it's Faramir.)" - You are correct, thank you for letting me know about the spelling error.**

**RoxyGirl: "SHORT CHAPTERS ARE TORCHER YOU MEANIE! Just kidding! but seriously, this is torcher." - Sorry but that was where the chapter needed to end. I'll work on making them longer.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Note: Hey everyone, I want to thank all of those who Favorited my story or followed it sense the last update. That makes me feel happy that people are liking it. Reviews are highly encouraged and I want to hear everyone's thoughts on the story. I'm looking for someone who wants to help proof read and edit my chapters sense I often miss things here and there. If anyone is interested please PM me. On with the chapter!**

**Chapter 8 - Journey to Eryn Arnen**

_Third Person - Limited - Legolas' POV_

Once Legolas and the other elves saw his messenger coming down the halls the entire hall erupted into action. He watched as the two Ellith hurried past him and ushered the embarrassed human woman into her bedchambers. The Ellon who had been sent to Eryn Arnen had returned sooner than the blonde haired elf had thought he would. Legolas moved from his spot in front of Selene's door to meet the Ellon half way, anxious to hear news from Faramir. Legolas heard Selene's door open and shut again quickly as Faervel hurried past the two Ellyn and turned gracefully a separate hall. The Prince could only assume that she had gone to the Seamstress to purchase a new dress for Selene.

"Hir nin." (My Lord.) The messenger said politely as he bowed to Legolas and then straightened his posture.

"Man siniath tog?" (What news do you bring?) Legolas asked.

"Ennas gwanural Eryn Arnen." (There are no woman missing from Eryn Arnen.)

"Henion." (I understand.) Legolas frowned slightly, that meant that she was not from Eryn Arnen, although he expected as much. It was apparent that she was not from here, but then where did this woman come from? The Elven Prince doubted that Minas Tirith would know who this woman was. He had been so deep in his thoughts that he missed what his messenger had said, until the Ellon repeated himself.

"Hir nin," (My Lord) The Ellon paused as he pulled a neatly folded letter from his satchel and presented it to the Prince. "Lord Faramir asked me to deliver this to you upon my return." The Elf handed the letter to Legolas, bowed, and then was excused by the Prince to rest after his journey. Legolas held the letter tightly and walked swiftly back to the library and to the table that he had been studying the leather bound book at. He did not sit down, instead he picked the book up and left the library and headed to his private study.

The halls of Ithilien were similar to that of Mirkwood, simply on how they built from the trees and then grew the structures up not out. However it was not nearly as dark feeling as the Prince's former home; the floor was grey, blue, and white stones. The same flooring was throughout Legolas' office. At the end of the spacious room was a stair case that spiraled up the trunk of one of the trees and up to his private living quarters. And of course they did not have to deal with the Great Spiders of his former home. Legolas walked to his faintly golden wood desk and sat down as he opened and read the letter from Faramir. His brow furrowed slightly as he came across the last paragraph from the letter.

_"-perhaps it would be best for you, or have one of your guards, escort the young human to Eryn Arnen. It may be best for her to be with her own kind. I have sent a letter to King Aragorn and informed him of the letter you sent me. Should you decide to have the human woman escorted here, Lady Ewoyn and I will safely escort her to Gondor if we do not consider her a threat to the Kingdom."_

Legolas sighed as he reread the last paragraph. He had warned Faramir that Selene acted out violent at times and worried that moving the woman and leaving her in an unknown place would spook her. He did not want to risk Selene panicking and reacting violently at the thought of being abandoned. But he also knew that it may be in her best interest to be around other humans, not only Elven kind. Although he worried that Faramir and Ewoyn would end up seeing the woman as a threat. Legolas pulled out a piece of parchment paper and wrote a response to Faramir to be spent out in the morning. Until then Legolas opened the leather book and once again studied the unknown language within it's pages.

There was quite a bit of difference in how the two languages were written and the Ellon could not even begin to think of how he could pronounce the unknown one. Without seeing the language written elsewhere by someone, or knowing how it sounded in order to recognize someone speaking the language he was at a loss of what to do. All he could really hope for was to have his father or Aragorn recognize the written language, or even happen to stumble upon someone who understood what it said.

Hours passed quickly and before the Elven Prince knew it the sun had replaced the moon and stars in the sky. He looked at the letter he neatly folded and summoned his messenger. Legolas gave him the letter that he had written the previous night and sent him to Eryn Arnen immediately. After the messenger was sent off Legolas quickly went down to the guest halls to wake Selene and put together a small group to escort her to Eryn Arnen. However to his surprise her room was empty and the human was no where in sight. The Prince felt rather concerned that she was not in her room, the young woman rarely left her room and the last time he heard that she apparently embarrassed herself by tripping over her dress. After that she cut her dress inappropriately. The elf felt heat rise to his cheeks at the memory and quickly regained control of his emotions, forcing the memory away and calming his warm face.

Legolas frowned and walked around his colony to search for the human. He would occasionally pull an Ellyn or Ellith aside and ask if they had seen Selene somewhere this morning. They all either said they had not seen any human around this morning or sent him in the direction they had last seen the woman heading. One of the Ellyn mentioned that she was wearing breeches and a carrying a sword at her side. After about an hour of searching he finally came across the woman. He could hear Selene and an Elleth before he saw them.

"Avo dhago den!" (Don't kill it!)

«Διαβολεμενο πλασμα!» (Evil creature!)

There was a slight pause after he heard Selene shout, then he heard the Elleth scream and Legolas broke out into a run to the voices of the two ladies. He didn't know what he would find, but he hoped that Selene was not attacking one of his subjects.

"U-aniron den!" (I don't want it!)

«Κρατα το ακινητο!» (Hold it still!)

"Ai!" (Ah!)

Legolas had just entered the small clearing just barely out of Ithilien when he saw the scene before him. The Elleth he had heard scream was Faevrel, who was running from Selene; whom held her sword high and kept trying to hit something in the young Elleth's arms. Had the human not been chasing one of his subjects around with her sword raised above her head the scene could have been laughable. However the Prince felt he had to intervene before Selene hurt herself or Faevrel. Legolas made quick work of disarming Selene; who seemed to just realize his presence when he knocked the sword from her hand. On instinct the human swung her fist towards the Prince, but his reflexes were quick and he caught her hand before she could hit him. Faevrel slowed down when she noticed the Prince and did a quick courtesy, her face heated up in embarrassment.

"What happened?" Legolas asked.

"Hir nin," Faevrel started to speak as Selene stared at her sword in Legolas' hand. "I found lady Selene out here and was about to escort her back to her room when Selene accidentally provoked a fox. It bit her and she has been trying to kill the poor creature ever sense." Faevrel explained as she showed the small forest creature she had cradled in her arms as if it were a small child. Selene glared at the fox and mumbled τέρας (monster) under her breath. From that point Faevrel walked a few feet away and let the fox go back into the forest and the two elves took Selene back to her room. During that time Legolas tried to think of how to explain to the human girl that they would be taking her else where. Communication was still hard and she only knew a few words like pillow or hair.

Trying to get Selene to understand that they were leaving Ithilien and taking her else where was rather difficult. And in the time it took to make her leave her room Faervel put together a small bag for the human. She was extremely suspicious about leaving the Elven colony. Selene was to ride on a horse with one of the Guards that accompanied the Prince as he took her to Eryn Arnen. Unfortunately for both Selene and Valdon; they were to ride together on the horse and Valdon was still mad about when she bit him only a few days earlier. Selene would jump or move her hand to the hilt of her sword whenever something moved in the bushes or darted through the trees. Legolas did not know what unsettled her so much about leaving but it seemed like she was always on the defense when anything that sounded like someone else in the woods, and soon the Prince realized that she might have been scared or at the least worried about something in the woods.

Legolas thought that perhaps it was the Orc attack she went through that caused her anxiety while travelling. After all she almost died and would have died if his patrol didn't come across her and the Orcs that day. Legolas gripped the hair of his horse Arod in a bit of anger when he thought of what the Orcs would have done to the woman had they not came along. It was not unknown that they enjoyed torturing their victims and who knows what else they would have done. Legolas forced those thoughts to the back of his mind as he heard Aron whine, obviously sensing Legolas' anger. The Elf muttered some soft words to his horse to calm him, then they continued on horse back for a more couple hours.

Legolas' company stopped traveling and set up camp while the sun was still in the sky. They wanted to collect water, wood for fire, and find a good location to set up for the night. Two of the Ellyn stayed with Selene at camp while Valdon, Legolas, and two others went off to collect wood, water, and hunt some food for the human. None of the Elves ate meat but humans normally did, they hadn't given Selene meat since they found her. She didn't seem to mind it or perhaps she didn't notice the lack of meat but then again it wasn't like she could communicate well enough to complain. When Legolas returned to camp he saw Selene lift her bag, only to have it rip at the bottom and all the contents fell out. The human let out an annoyed puff of air and knelled down to pick up her belongings.

The Elven Prince quickly leaped into action to help her gather all the things that were packed for her. It wasn't much; a comb, cloak to shield her from the cold, and an extra pair of clothing. However there was one more item in the bag that surprised Legolas. Selene took one of the books that were in the room she stayed in over the past few days. It concerned Legolas that she had taken a book because he didn't know why she did it. Unless she lied about her knowledge of being unfamiliar with Elvish she couldn't read it. So why have it? Legolas opened the book and his eyes widened when he saw that she had written on the edges of the the paper, carefully not writing over what was already there. Normally Legolas would have been upset that someone had done that to a book, but he recognized some of her writing.

Legolas quickly walked to his own bag, taking the book with him. Selene only stared at him worriedly at his tense posture and how quiet and serious he got suddenly. She followed the fair haired elf to his bag where he produced the leather bound journal he had been looking at recently. He looked from the book Selene had written on and the journal, he noticed the similarities between the unknown language and what she had written. His suspicions were confirmed when he heard her gasp and she tried to rip the leather book from Legolas' hands. When he looked up at her he let go of the book in surprise when he saw tears forming and falling down her cheeks. Her skin paled as if she had seen a ghost and she gripped the book tightly, ripping it out of his hands completely. Her pale, slim fingers ran over the dried ink delicately and a few tears dripped onto the yellowing page of the journal.

"Aither..."

**Note:**

**Sorry to leave it there and for anyone who may be confused by the reference to the Journal and the book Selene has been writing in, the mystery language is Greek. Also don't worry about this "Aither" person, you will get to learn more about who this person is in the next chapter. Also Bollywood and Greek Music helps me get inspired, so if you know of any good songs please post them in a review and I'll listen to them.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Note:**

**Here is another chapter and this one is sort of important and you get to learn a little about Aither! So for those who may not have put it together Aither has been in every flashback or memory that Selene has had so I'm slowly showing more of his character who is rather important.**

**I would like to give a special thanks to Hibiscus of the Dusk for helping me with Greek Translations. They will be more accurate now and I very much appreciate that. So thank you!**

**Chapter 9 - Aither**

_Third Person Limited - Selene's POV_

The entire world drowned out around her and Selene only stared at the pages of the Journal she was holding. She felt more tears fall from her eyes but she made no other sounds than repeating _«_Aither» over and over again. She recognized the hand writing to belong to him, she knew in her gut that this journal once belonged to him. His named stopped coming from her mouth and her heart felt like it tightened in her chest. Reminding her that no matter how broken it had become it continued to beat in her chest, no matter how much she wished for it to stop ages ago. Selene's vision blurred completely and she choked out a sob as old memories resurfaced.

_The sun shined upon a beautiful kingdom. It had strong walls that circled it and it was surrounded by woods on one side, and there was a harbor off to other side. The stone walls were pure white and had gold accents while the roofs were red. A young woman hurried through the buzzing streets of the market. Her blonde hair was braided over her shoulder and the side of her stomach was exposed. Her skirt was cream with red designs sewn on the ends of her dress, it moved around her legs as she ran. Her belly shirt was also cream but plain except for the red lining sewn into the shirt at the ends of the shirt and ends of the short sleeves. Then on top of it all she wore a Sari that draped over her clothing and went over one shoulder, covered the front and back of her stomach, then down to the ends of her skirt. The Sari was a deep maroon color with gold designs on the ends and sides of the fabric._

_The young woman's bracelets clinked as she ran, making every motion have it's own beautiful sound. Her earrings were gold and heavy on her ears but the years of wearing them made the earrings feel weightless to the young woman. Her braid had red thread woven into it and bounced with every step. She seemed to be dressed better than most of the people in the market and people often looked at her with either admiration or envy. She paid them no mind as she narrowly avoided crashing into anyone and she made her way to the Harbor; where ships were returning from their voyage. Her bright grey eyes scanned the faces of the men who were getting off the ship and finally she spotted the one she had been looking for._

__«_Aither!» One of the men turned his head and smiled when he saw the young woman standing on rocks watching him come off the ship. He watched her climb off of the rocks quickly and run to him, shouting his name as he dropped his bag and caught her in his arms as she launched herself at the man. He laughed and hugged the woman to his chest and took in the scent of her hair. It had been two years sense he last laid eyes on her and she had grown sense then, but she was still as beautiful as when he left her. Not that he would ever tell her that. He would never hear the end of it._

_«Γυρισα πισω, μικρη μου θεα.» (I have returned home, my little Goddess.) Aither murmured into the woman's ear, using a nickname from her childhood. She grinned and closed her eyes, comfortable and safe in his embrace. Slowly she let go and looked at him. He hadn't aged a day sense he left nor from the time she met him when she was a mere child. His skin was a few shades darker than hers, thanks to the sun. His hair was a midnight black that hung in slight waves and framed his boyish face. The only real difference in his appearance was that his hair had grown a few inches and his green eyes seemed a little more aged as well. _

_«Θα λατρευες την παραξενη χωρα που βρηκαμε. Συναντησαμε νεα ειδη φρουτων και φαγητων. Οι ανθρωποι ηταν πολιτισμενοι και μιλουσαν σε γλωσσρς που δεν εχω ποτε μου ξανακουσει. Σημειωσα ο,τι μπορουσα στο ημερολογιο μου για να στα δειξω.» (You would have loved the strange land we found. There were new kinds of food and fruits to eat. The people were civilized and spoke in languages I have never heard before. I recorded what I could remember in my journal to show you.) Aither said as he lifted his bag and dug through it. His brow furrowed slightly as he started pulling out things in search for his leather journal, but he couldn't find it._

_«Μα, ηταν εδω! Ημουν σιγουρος οτι το ειχα βαλει εδω στη τσαντα μου!» (It was in here, I could have sworn I packed it!) Aither cried out in annoyance as he continued to try and look for the book. The woman merely laughed and shook her head at her friend's frustration._

_«Σιγουρα δεν το ξεχασες απλα, Aither? Ειλικρινα, εισαι ο πιο ξεχασιαρης ανθρωπος που εχω γνωρισει ποτε!» (Are you sure you did not forget it Aither? Honestly, you are the most forgetful man I have ever met.)_

_«Δεν ειμαι ξεχασιαρης!» (I am not!)_

_«Καλε μου φιλε, αν δε σου υπενθυμιζα να φορεσεις την περικεφαλαια σου, θα πηγαινες να πολεμησεις χωρις αυτην! Και μια αλλη φορα ξεχασες μεχρι και το σπαθι σου!» (My friend, if I did not remind you to wear your helmet you would ride off into battle without it! Once you even forgot your sword!) She reminded him with a short laugh, at the time she had been terrified of him falling in battle due to his mistake. Now that once terrifying experience was simply laughable._

_«Τωρα γινεσαι αδικη! Τουλαχιστον εγω ξερω να πολεμω με σπαθι. Εσυ απο την αλλη, μικρη μου θεα, θα γινοσουν κομματακια πριν προλαβεις να πεις 'κυμινο'!» (Now that is hardly fair. At least I can wield a sword. You, my little Goddess, would get cut down in seconds!) The two bickered back and forth like that for minutes before they left the docks and went back into the market. The book he had left behind was forgotten as the day went on. Aither would tell Selene stories of the land he saw and the beautiful creatures that he got to meet. He told her that some day he could take her to see that land as well, that she would get to go beyond the walls that protected the kingdom._

More quiet sobs fought their way out of her as Selene dropped the journal. Slowly she sunk to her knees, the unsought of memories making their way to the surface. Refusing to be reburied, refusing to be forgotten.

_Aither had returned a year ago, and outside the peace of the kingdom war was brewing in the west. It was making it's way to the large kingdom and the false peace would not last forever. Everyday that peace was closer and closer to ending. But Aither and his grey eyed companion savored the peace for as long as the could, the impending danger in the back of their minds. Aither closed his eyes and leaned his back against the tree they often found themselves resting against. He let the sun warm him and birds sing their songs above him._

__«_Aither?_»__

_«Τι σκεφτεσαι, μικρη μου θεα?»__ (What is it my little Goddess?) He asked, not opening his eyes while feeling completely at ease._

_«Πως ειναι... Ξερεις, μωρε... το να εισαι αθανατος?»__ (What's it like... You know... To be immortal?) The question threw him off a little and he cracked one eye open to look at the young fair haired woman._

_«Γεματο δυστυχια.»__ (Unfortunate.) Aither answered and heard the woman scoff as he closed his eyes once more._

_«Το να μενεις για παντα νεος κι ομορφος δεν μου φαινεται και τοσο δυστυχες.» (Staying young and handsome hardly seems unfortunate.) She crossed her arms and Aither shook his head, he could feel her roll her eyes._

_«Φαντασου ξαφνικα να σταματησεις να μεγαλωνεις. Να μη γερνας και να μην πεθαινεις. Βλεπεις τους γυρω σου να γερνουν και να πεθαινουν, ενω εσυ μενεις παντα ετσι - κολλημενος σε αυτην την κατασταση. Δεν ειναι οσο ωραιο οσο φαινεται, Selene. Οχι οταν βλεπεις οσους αγαπας να πεθαινουν.» (Imagine never aging suddenly and never dying. You watch everyone around you grow old and die while you're forever stuck like this. It is not as good as it may seem Selene. Not when you watch everyone you love die.) Everything was silent for minutes after his explanation. Selene twirled some of her loose hair on her finger and bit her lip._

_«Λες 'αγαπη'... Εχεις αγαπησει πολλες φορες δηλαδη?»__ (You said love... Have you loved many times then?)_

__«_Ναι__._»___ (Yes.) Aither answered and Selene looked down at her feet, a hint of sadness in her eyes._

_«Εχω αγαπησει πολλους. Αγαπουσα τον μικρο μου αδερφο τον Acis, τη μητερα μου Zoie, αγαπουσα τα ζωα που ειχαμε στο κτημα και τους φιλους που απεκτησα»__ (I have loved many. I loved my younger brother Acis, I loved my mother Rhea, I loved the animals on our farm and the friends I gained.) Aither paused for a moment and opened his eyes to glance at Selene, whom was now watching him with interest. He took a breath and continued._

_«Και τελευταια μου φαινεται πως ενα νεο ειδος αγαπης ανθιζει μεσα στην καρδια μου.» (And recently I think a new kind of love is growing within my heart.)_

_«Καταλαβαινω.. Πρεπει να ειναι πολυ ομορφη.» (I see. I'm sure she must be beautiful.) Selene said as she played with the fabric of her skirt. She was unaware of the way he gazed at her._

_«Πιο ομορφη απο καθετι αλλο που εχω δει ποτε μου.» (More than anything I have ever seen before.) Aither answered in a whisper. Silence fell between the two and Selene felt her heart tighten slightly. More beautiful than what he has seen in his long life? That in it's self was amazing. Aither seemed to feel the sudden strain between the two of them and decided that he couldn't let it remain. The tense moment was broken when she heard him laugh._

_«Λοιπον, μικρη μου θεα, αληθεια με βρισκεις ομορφο?» (So, my little Goddess, you find me handsome?) Aither asked with a teasing tone and Selene merely answered by hitting him on the chest. The ache in her hand only fueled his laughter. In the next two months Selene would feel happiness, sadness, exhaustion, fear, and unbelievable pain she never knew she could have felt._

Legolas was beside Selene, he was speaking but she didn't know what he was saying. She vaguely registered him taking the leather journal that once belonged to Aither and gently wiped any grass off of it. Her sobs quieted but she didn't move, didn't blink, nor did she make a sound. There was a piece of Aither here, just like there was a piece of him in the glass bracelet that suddenly felt heavier on her wrist than it did in years and realization dawned on her. Aither had been here, that over seas adventure he took was to here, and this was where he left his journal. Selene heard Legolas moving beside her and then it sounded like he was going through a bag but she didn't look towards him to check. Her eyes were fixed on the fabric of the dress she wore.

Legolas sat down next to her and flipped through the journal before writing neatly on a piece of paper he had in his travel bag. Selene didn't acknowledge what he was doing, her thoughts were too focused on Aither and his death. When he shook the hand of a God and coughed up blood. Never to be seen again after that point. Some people thought that he ran away after the war, left because he was a coward. But Selene knew that was not the case, she knew he died and that was more painful than anything she ever experienced. White came into view and her eyes refocused on the the paper that now was sitting on her lap.

«Εσυ καταλαβαινεις?» (Do you understand?) It was written word by word and if she wasn't so sad Selene might have laughed. She understood what he was trying to ask her but she knew that it would have been written differently. She looked up at Legolas and saw that he was knelled down in front of her with a quill to write with. She took the writing instrument and wrote a response.

«Ναι» (Yes.) She handed the paper back to Legolas and saw a hint of relief in his eyes. Before he could do anything else Selene stood up and walked over to a tree where she laid down with her back to him and the small fire Valdon had made for warmth. Legolas did not move to follow her and took the paper and journal back to his travel bag and put them away. Now they could roughly communicate. Selene closed her eyes and buried her face in her arms to try and rest but she knew it was hopeless. When she closed her eyes all she saw was Aither coughing up blood as the Lord of the Dead held his hand to suck the life out of him. Aither's skin turned white and his limps grew weak. Then what after felt like hours of watching helplessly: he died.

**Note:**

**I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to review for my story. It very much inspires me to want to write more and I love getting feedback. Whether it's "I love your story" or "Your story is awful and you need to work on your grammar woman!" Anyways, as always please review and I'll respond to you either in PM or here if you're a guest.**

**Responses to Reviews:**

** RoxyGirl - "*crying uncontoribly* I'm so sorry for not reviewing the last chapter I hadn't realized! Oh! I'm so SORRY! *takes deep breaths* Okay... I'm better now. I've had fandom headaches and computer difficulties. I enjoy this story so much! Keep up the good work." Thank you so much for reviewing and no worries, I'm just glad that you're still reading my story.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Note:**

**I want to thank everyone who has been reviewing for my story, it means a lot that you take the time to do so. Also this chapter is going back and forth into memories and into the present. Memories are in **_**italic.**_

**Also I want to thank Hbiscus of the Dusk for helping me out again and any continued help you give me.**

_Chapter 10 - Lady of Emyn Arnen_

_First Person - Selene's POV_

I didn't sleep that night. All I could think of was Aither and the book he left behind. It could be of use sense it was obviously some sort of translation book. He had spoken to me briefly that he had written down things he remembered, and at the time he didn't mean to leave it but even unconsiously he looked out for my wellbeing. I wanted to cry, to scream, to fight... But my tears were dried up, my voice was hoarse, and I felt too weak to hit anything. My pain reintroduced it's self to me, reminding me how much it hurt. His gift to me never felt more like a curse than it did now. The pointy earred men were speaking in gibberish above me, I didn't even foreign sleep; I just laid on the ground staring at the soil.

"Selene." I felt a soft hand on my arm and I turned my head and met the eyes of Legolas. He looked uncomfortable and held up a piece of paper for me to read.

«Εμεις πρεπει συνεχισουμε κινηθουμε» (We must keep moving.) It was written in his nice and delicate handwritting and I gave a short nod before pushing myself off the ground. I wanted to lay on the ground and grieve over my loss but the words from my old friend replayed it's self.

_I was laying in a mountain of pillows. My skin grew paler, my eyes looked like they belonged to someone who had died. In a sense I had, I died with Aither that day. Dayita, my dear friend and servant, had come into my room. She drew back the curtains and let the sun shine onto my sunken face. She turned and glared at me, she was the only one who would have dared to look at me with those sort of eyes. Anger marred her normally smiling face as she walked over to me._

_«Σηκω πανω, Selene. Θρηνεις και πληγωνεις τον εαυτο σου, αλλα δε θα ηθελε κατι τετοιο. Ο Aither σε εσωσε, εκανε ο,τι χρειαστηκε για να εισαι εδω τωρα. Να πεθαινεις απο την πεινα, να κρυβεσαι μεσα στο σπιτι σου, να βυθιζεσαι στο πενθος δεν ειναι κατι που θα ηθελε για σενα! Ηθελε να ζησεις! Ηθελε απεγνωσμενα να ειναι σιγουρος οτι εχεις τουλαχιστον μια ευκαιρια στη ζωη σου! Μην αμαυρωνεις την τελευταια του επιθυμια! Τωρα, σηκω πανω! Σηκω!» (Get up, Selene. You are grieving and hurting yourself but he didn't want that. Aither saved you, he did what he needed to do in order for you to be here. Starving yourself, hiding away in your home, succumbing to grief is not what he wanted! He wanted you to live! He wanted to make sure you had a chance at life! Do not waste his last wish for you! Now get up! Get up!)_

Her words rang clearly in my ears as they did the day she said them. I looked at Legolas, his emotions were masked as always but I could feel his worry. I knew deep down that he was probably concerned for my well being. He could not speak to me but he would write to me, well he'd attempt to write, but it always came out broken. I looked towards the group of men who had packed up the camp and put their bags on the horses.

The man, whose name I learned was Valdon, was quiet as well when in my presence. Since I bit him those days ago he always would mutter in gibberish when in my presense. But now he was just as quiet as the people around him. I wondered if he felt pity for me or was just wondering if I was on edge and ready to snap. I wasn't sure which it was, but honestly I didn't want to know. Instead I quietly walked to him and got on the horse behind him. Soon I felt the steady rhythm of the horse running, the sound of it's hooves hitting the ground slowly putting me to sleep. Soon my arms were tightly wrapped around the waist of Valdon and my head was resisting against his back.

_Rain poured on the battle field. I was dressed in heavy armor and while it weighed me down I refused to let it hold me back. The men had mixes of worry, sadness, anxiety, excitement, and pure blood thirstiness as they stared at the army marching towards us. My hair was braided down my back and I could see the men inching closer to me. Protecting the only woman who had followed them to war. The sword I held felt like it gained weight every second. Soon we would be fighting, soon the blade would be stained red, and soon many lives would be lost on both sides._

_Thunder roared in the background and I felt Aither tense up next to me. I didn't have to look at him to know how utterly furious he was with me. To know that he was tense and scared. I had never seen him afraid before, and I knew it was not the army marching towards us. He had faced much worse in his time and this was one of the least scary things he saw. No... He was terrified that I would die. I was not meant to be here, and my parents would be furious once they found out. If they were not afraid of letting the infortmation slip, they would have demanded that I was brought home. It was too late now, because now I was in the fight and like everyone else; there was no garentee I would return._

The dream started to feel lighter, as if I was now watching it from a stranger's eyes. I could feel the horses come to a stop, I felt myself being lifted up and cradled in someone's arms. I was being carried somewhere but I couldn't force my eyes to open, I couldn't shake off how tired I was and sleep consumed me once more.

_Times had changed, and I found myself walking out in the fingers grazed the trees that had grown taller over the years. My arm had grown heavy with the bangles I had recieved as time went on, and every where it seemed as though a new man presented me one. Hopefully that I would accept his proposal but only one had ever been accepted; but he was gone now. Without paying attention to where I was going I suddenly found myself headed towards a stream as it came into sight, and my mind showed a memory of a little girl and an older boy playing in the water. She shouted at him to let her go and he laughed as he dunked her in the icy waters. His laugh seemed to echo and I watched the river, letting the memory play out in my mind. SPLASH! I blinked away the memory and saw a young girl, no older than fourteen in the river. _

_Her eyes had dark circles under them, showing her exhaustion, and her eyes looked wild. She was tensed and looked ready to pounce on anything that seemed like a threat to her. Her hair was dark and the water had wettened her tight curls. Her hair clung to her skin and she pushed herself up on her arms and stared at Selene. Selene noticed the unique piercings in the young woman's ears: they were golden and worked up the side of her ear. The first one hung low and was a large flower, while a gold chain linked it to two other earrings; one above the other. A red dot in the center of her forehead told me which race she belonged to in the kingdom._

_Her body tensed up even more as I walked closer to the water and knelt down beside the river. She was a pretty girl but she was covered in dirt and a few cuts. She probably thought that I was going to do her harm. However she did not look afraid, just prepared to fight her way past me, to do whatever it took to get away from all people and survive. Before I had thought her eyes looked wild and lost but now I saw a fire burning in them. I realized now that she was angry, perhaps not at me directly, but angry at people in general. Slowly I reached my hand out to her, she only looked at the out stretched limb suspiciously._

_«Δε θα σου κανω κακο. Δεν εχω καμια τετοια προθεση.» (I won't hurt you. I have no intention to.)_

_"_मैं कैसे तुम पर भरोसा कर सकते हैं_?__" (How can I trust you?) Selene realized she was speaking in the second language of her country. It was obvious that the girl understood what Selene said but perhaps she didn't know Greek well enough to respond in it._

_"_आप नहीं कर सकते_. _तुम्हें पता है मैं तुम्हें कोई नुकसान नहीं होगा कि विश्वास होना चाहिए_. _कि मेरा इरादा था तो मैं बहुत पहले आप नुकसान पहुंचाया गया होता_.__" (You can't. You must have faith that I will not do you any harm. If that was my intention I would have harmed you long ago.) There was a long pause after that. Her brown eyes burned into mine before she spoke again. This time she went to the main language of our country._

_«Αληθεια δεν εχεις καμια προθεση να με πειραξεις?» (You don't intend to harm me?)_

_«Καμια απολυτως. Πες μου, πως σε λενε?» (I do not. Tell me, what is your name?) I asked as the dream faded away into nothingness._

I felt like my head was spinning through all the dreams I had been having. My senses were becoming stronger and even with my eyes closed I become a bit more aware of my surroundings. Everything was soft, I grazed my fingers over the softness around me and felt confused. The forest floor was not this soft. I remembered being on a horse, with Valdon, but then everything is a blank. Even my dreams for fading away yet I remembered the red dot, the Bindi on the young girls' head, and it seemed to be the most vivid color I remembered. I felt warmth all around me and slowly I opened my eyes.

The ceiling was cream colored and looked like it was rather high. I looked down at my hand and saw that it was resting on fabric that I was engulfed in. I was in bed? No, that didn't matter so much, but where was I? I forced myself to sit up quickly, but that only disoriented me. Everything seemed to be spinning and there was a dull ache in the back of my head. My vision was dotted with black for a few seconds before it cleared. The room stopped spinning and my vision focused on the other person in the room. Her dress was white and flowly down to her ankles. I wondered why she was grieving but that thought went away when I saw the smile she wore. Her eyes were blue and shined with happiness as blonde hair fell in waves down her back. There was something that almost made me feel at peace in her presence, almost.

"Oh, I see you're awake now. I'm Eoywn, Lady of Emyn Arnen."

**Note:**

**Response to Reviews:**

** TheParanoidGraveRobber; "I really love your story and I'm looking forward to see where you take it as well as getting to know more about Selene 3 Hope you update again soon c:" I couldn't PM you, so I just wanna say thank you for reviewing my story and I'm so happy to hear that you love my story. It means a lot to have someone say that sort of stuff and it makes me wanna write more. So thank you! And no worries my friend, you will learn more about Selene every chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Note:**

**I'm sorry it took awhile to get this chapter out, for anyone who looked at my profile knows why, but if you haven't I'll tell you here. I just started and finished my first week of college so chapter updates may be slower than they used to. I apologize in advance but you have my word that I will update as soon as I can.**

**As always I want to thank everyone who has reviewed, followed, or added my story as a favorite. If you post a review I'll most likely PM you or respond to you here in an authors note.**

_Chapter 11 - The Things We Learn_

_Third Person - Legolas' POV_

They rode quickly on our horses to cover the last stretch of land to Emyn Arnen. They noticed long ago that Selene's breathing become more swallow and even out at a steady and calm pace. Valdon confirmed that she had fallen asleep against his back within the first twenty minutes of them riding. Two of the Ellyn rode behind Valdon in case the human did, or looked like she would fall off the back of the horse. After a few close calls Valdon moved her in front of him so that she could lean back into his chest. Honestly Legolas thought it was better that the human woman was sleeping rather then quietly crying or showing the dead look in her eyes. He didn't understand why it had an impact on him like it did, but seeing such a look marring her features or her tear strained cheeks made his chest feel tight with guilt.

The Prince did not understand exactly how one book could have had such an impact on her, but it did and ever sense part of him regretted letting his impulsive curiosity get the better of him. But that was only part of him, the other part was glad to have found out that the mysterious language was the one that Selene spoke and wrote. It could make things much easier now that there was a way to communicate with her. However there was still a bit of guilt buried down in his gut for her reaction to the journal; it was like she was grieving a terrible loss. He had noticed that she had sadness been inside that had been consuming her slowly and now it seems like he sped up or perhaps refueled that horrible feeling just by allowing her to see the journal. In a way he caused her unhappiness and for some unknown reason it was causing his guilt to grow more intense.

Those thoughts and feels circled in his head and before he knew it the sun had set and they had arrived at Emyn Arnen. The company of Elves and the one human were greeted by Faramir and Eoywn themselves along with a few of their guards. Legolas gracefully slid off the side of his horse and walked up to Faramir to greet him. He noticed Eoywn looking past him at Valdon who had picked up the resting Selene. He recognized the curiously and worry in her eyes as she gazed as the unfamiliar human; he knew in that moment that Eoywn would become a friend of Selene should Selene not try to bite or impale her.

"Thank you for bringing her to Emyn Arnen personally." Faramir spoke as Legolas walked closer.

"I felt it would be unwise to send Selene off with people she barely knows to an unfamiliar place. The human is in a fragile state at the moment."

"I'm sure that she appreciates your kindness towards her." Eoywn said, only now removing her eyes from the young human woman and looking at the former Mirkwood Prince.

"I would not be so sure. I'm afraid I may have put her in rather low spirits as we made our way here." Legolas admitted and saw the surprise register on Eoywn and Faramir's faces. However the Shield Maiden recovered the quickest and shook her head.

"I'm sure she's fine Legolas. From what you stated in your letter she is likely lost and confused. She probably only needs rest and a peaceful night in a warm bed." Eoywn said, trying to put his guilt at ease, but it didn't do much for the Prince.

"I hope you are right Lady Eoywn. Perhaps you could stay with her until she awakens? Selene seems to be the most at ease when in the presence of women." Legolas said. Faramir seemed to tense, probably worried that Selene was a danger to his wife. But Eoywn just nodded and accepted before her husband could voice his concerns. The shield maiden was always a free spirit and did what her heart told her to. Eoywn quickly went to Valdon and lead him away to where they had a room set up for Selene to rest in until they decided if she was a threat or not. Faramir turned to Legolas and stared at him with unease.

"Didn't you mention she fought with your company of paroling Elves when she first met you?"

"She did. But she also had just barely survived an Orc attack. Not to mention we were all armed and probably were perceived as a threat to her. Eoywn would just be one person, a woman for that matter, and she is not armed. I do not believe that Selene will attack someone defenseless unless she were provoked. Eoywn has fought in a war before, and I am certain that she could hold her own should a situation arise for her to defend herself. I do not believe your wife in is danger." Legolas answered. However Faramir still did not look very convinced on the matter, but he let it fade to the back of his mind for now.

"My friend," Legolas continued, "I think I may have found out something new involving Selene. Before communicating with the human was complicated. She appeared to have little to no knowledge of Common Tongue nor Elvish. I have discovered that she had been writing in one of the books that was left in her temporarily room. The language she wrote in matched the one in a journal I found days earlier. It is not much right now, but it is a source of communication that we did not have before."

"Show me this book." Faramir answered as he lead Legolas to his study where they could discuss and review the book in private.

_First Person - Eoywn's POV_

I waited in the room with Selene after Valdon had set her in bed and left. I personally took it upon myself to cover her with a blanket. I noticed that she looked almost blissful in her sleep and I vaguely wondered what she was dreaming about. Whatever it was it must have been at least a little bit pleasant to her because she seemed to be at ease. An hour must have passed before I saw her stirring, her hands moved and I noticed she was feeling the fabric, then her eyes slowly opened. She stared up at the ceiling for a few moments and I thought I saw her brow furrow slightly before she looked at her hand and the fabric it rested on top of.

She sat up quickly and put the palm of her hand to her forehead and glanced around. Her eyes seemed unfocused for several seconds before her grey orbs focused on me. I felt her eyes trailing up my body, not in a way that a man would stare at a woman but as if she was studying me. Her brow furrowed once more and I couldn't help but smile. Finally her eyes made their way to mine and I saw a hint of surprise in her features. I wondered what she was thinking of in that moment, by my dress she must have known that I was a woman yet something had thrown her off about me. Perhaps she was expecting the face of an Elf and not a human? I mentally shook my head and pushed those distracting thoughts aside and spoke.

"Oh, I see you're awake now. I'm Eoywn, Lady of Emyn Arnen." It was like my words fell on death ears; she showed no reaction at all to what I said. Not to my name, not to my title, and not even to my obvious comment. Before I wondered if perhaps she had been faking around Legolas and his company of elves, that maybe she understood and she would slip up slightly when she woken up. However now I was sure that was not the case. She had no reaction to what I said, I knew she had heard me but the words meant nothing to her because she didn't understand them. I could have said anything; insulting or not and she wouldn't know what any of it meant.

Slowly I moved towards her and I saw that Selene completely tensed up. Her bracelets clinked together as she moved her hand down to her waist. No doubt to the hilt of her sword and I stopped moving. Her hand ceased movement when I did but she watched me warily from her position on the bed. I noticed a few things about her in that moment. The first was the way she re-positioned herself and crouched slightly, ready to pounce at any moment. The second was the jewelry she wore; bracelets made of pure gold and silver, jems within them and on her earrings. Then I noticed her posture and how straight her back was, the steady position of her head near her sword, how she seemed to carry herself with confidence. Then it clicked in my mind. It made sense now and I turned on my heel and walked out of the room. I closed the door behind me silently and ran down the halls to my husbands private study.

The sound of my shoes hitting the stone floor echoed in the halls and soon the door to my husbands study came into view. The moment I opened the door I noticed Legolas was already looking in my direction as Faramir looked down at a small leather book on the wooden table. When I shut the door behind me my husband looked up quickly and he looked worried for a moment. But when it appeared I was completely uninjured he relaxed a little.

"What is it Eoywn?" Faramir asked me gently, the concern was still there but as was the love and adoration we shared for one another.

"That woman. There is no way she is from Gondor nor any of the Kingdoms of Man that we are associated with." My announcement seemed to surprise both the men and Faramir straightened from his leaned position over the table.

"How can you be so sure? Did she speak to you about this?" Faramir asked and I shook my head.

"No, but I noticed things about her. She carries herself high, with confidence even when in uncommon situations. She is better dressed than any peasants I have ever met. That right there points to her being of higher status where ever she is from. If she is a lady of court or anything of that sort why have we not heard of her disappearance?" I asked.

"What if she is not? Perhaps she is a thief and stole those things. As for her dressing the elves provided her with those clothing." Faramir suggested and I had to hold back my groan at his assumption.

"I doubt she is a thief. Besides we found her with all the gold, silver, and jewels already on her person. Selene did not steal anything other than a book she wrote in. Everything else the bag, as well as her attire, was given to her by Faevrel." Legolas countered. Faramir bit his lip slightly in thought. I nodded in agreement with Legolas, although I did not know of any proof of that matter I believed deep down that Selene was no thief. It was something I could not explain, but I could feel it in my gut.

"So you believe her to be a noble of some sort then?" Faramir asked me and I looked up and met my husbands' eyes with confidence.

"I do."

"Was there anything else that you observed about her?" Faramir asked. I gave it a bit of thought before I answered. This woman, this Selene, was a warrior of some sort and I was positive of that. When I thought back to how alert she became in a short amount of time. The way her hand hovered over the hilt of her sword; ready to attack at any moment should a threat reveal it's self. She went to defense naturally. She was trained enough not to attack, although that may have been because I was weaponless. Her gaze was guarded regardless of the fact that I was also a woman. Should I have been armed and drew my weapon I'm positive she would have attacked. I took one long look at Faramir; seconds must have passed as I organized my thoughts and he awaited my answer.

"Nothing. Other than the obvious confusion to my presence and her being in a bed. Perhaps it would be wise for Legolas or one of the other elves to make an appearance so that she knows she is with friends." I suggested and Faramir nodded. He suspected nothing of my withhold of information, but one glance at Legolas and I knew he was aware of my reluctance to reveal everything I had learned. I vaguely wondered if he had done the same as I just did, but that was a question to be asked at a later date. I simply did a quick curtsy and left the room. I had decided to keep that bit of information to myself and it seemed by Faramir's ignorance Legolas had done the same.

**Note:**

**I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and more is on the way. I'm sorry if anyone felt like Eoywn was out of character and if you did then tell me why. Actually if you think any of the characters are ooc please tell me and I'll try to improve.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Note:**

**Here is another chapter and as always thank you Dusk for helping me translate Greek! Anyways I hope you enjoy the story.**

Chapter 12 – Languages

_Selene's POV – First Person POV_

My eyes never left the door that the blonde woman had ran out of as I slowly slid over the soft blankets and off the bed. The sound of my bracelets clinking together caused me to look down, relieved that they were not removed like the first time I woke in a strange room sense I arrived on this land. My left arm fell lazily to my side, leaving the hilt of my sword after the woman did not return after a minute or two. The tense feeling seemed to leave my body and I felt a little bit at ease being completely alone in the room. I turned my head from left to right and took a longer, more focused look around the room. The base color of the walls were the same cream color as the ceiling, however there was silver molding at the base of the walls and a light jade green horizontal line that went around the entire room, it was about four feet up from the ground. Paintings hung upon the walls both in portrait and landscape views. There was an ash brown dresser with a matching vanity over on the right side of the room, adjacent from the bed. Cautiously I made my way over to the vanity and gazed in the mirror. Then directly across from the dresser and vanity was a small table with two seats.

My hair had slightly fallen out of the braid that Faervel had put it in before we left. Yes… We…. I felt realization dawn on me and I felt myself panic slightly. We. Yet it was only me here, there was no sign of the people I came here with, I hadn't seen Legolas sense I woke up. Worry started to fill me. We had left their home, and last I remembered I was on a horse with Valdon, then nothing. I woke up in a bed with a woman staring at me. What if they had just gotten rid of me, what if these were the people that had given those pirates the job to kidnap me? But then why would Legolas bring me here, was he in on it? No… In my heart I knew it could not be that. So then were we attacked and I was taken? I shook my head at that thought. Legolas and his men were skilled archers, so someone would have to get close enough to get us and I doubted that Legolas and his company would be easily approached like that. Then there was that woman… She was strange to be wearing funeral colors and yet smile as if she was as happy as could be. Her eyes and voice had sounded kind but people could deceive you. I held onto the ash colored wood tightly, until my knuckles turned white. My head bowed slightly in front of the mirror and stray hairs fell in front of my grey eyes. My eyes closed a crease formed on my forehead as I remembered _his_ deceiving smile.

_His mouth was twisted up into kind smile, the whites of his teeth showing as he spoke. The meaning of what he was saying washed over me and joy bubbled up from deep in my heart and spread through my veins. Everything around us seemed unfocused as the moon shined down upon us from the heavens. His smile was so sincere and I was foolish, I believed him, I let him trick me, I let him ruin everything. _The sound of the door creaking as it opened didn't faze me. My hands gripped the wood harder and more hair fell down in front of my face. _White smile… His white, deceiving, kind smile burned into my mind._

"Selene?"_ A distant voice called to me. His lips moved but it did not match with my name._

"Selene." _The voice was stronger and more feminine this time, it did not belong to the smiling man. The traitor… The horrible, no, the terrible lying man._

"Selene? Are you alright?" The voice was clearer now, and my eyes shot open as I looked up into the mirror and saw the blonde woman from before standing behind me in the reflection. My eyes focused on hers and neither of us moved. My lips were pressed into a thin line and she stared at me and I saw a familiar emotion deep in her eyes. Worry. I had grown used to seeing those kind of eyes after Aither had died. Hers were less judging as the others I had seen, while they worried they also could not understand my suffering. Hers were less judging then my own people and I found myself wondering if she understood what it was to suffer through heart ache. Or was it that she pitied me? Or even that she merely tried to sympathize with me, but then how would she know what my hurting was in the first place? Who was this woman? I was unable to ponder any more of those thoughts and the door opened once more. This time I noticed and looked at the door in the mirror. My hand slid down towards the hilt of the sword on my hip, but it stopped a few inches above the hilt when I saw who had entered.

The first thing I had noticed was his slim figure sliding gracefully into the room, his clothing giving away who he was due to the earthy tones he wore. He was followed by a handsome man with a dark shade of brown hair contrasting with the fair hair that belonged to Legolas. I was relieved to see that he hadn't just left me somewhere in an unknown place. However I was still confused as to where we were, who these people were, and why we were here in the first place.

"Suilad, Selene." (Greetings, Selene.) Legolas spoke as he walked into the room. The blonde haired woman visibly relaxed at the presence of him and the other man in the room. I watched as she walked over to the dark haired man and he gave her a kiss on the cheek. It was sort of sweet and I couldn't help but feel as if I was looking in on a moment of privacy between the two of them. So I adverted my gaze from them, deciding to focus solely on Legolas. He watched me but I couldn't tell what he was thinking, usually eyes could give away emotions but his seemed more guarded. When I thought back on it Faervel, Valdon, and the others also had guarded eyes. I looked away from his eyes and the color brown caught my eye. As I looked down at his hand I noticed the journal he was holding. I recognized it and while I did not cry as I did before, I did feel my heart ache slightly. Legolas seemed to notice the shift in tension in the room and he walked over to me and gently placed a hand on my shoulder. He did not speak, probably knowing fully well that anything he said would be wasted breath on me now. Honestly, there was nothing he needed to say anyways, the gesture spoke more than he could have.

«Δε θρηνω πια μπροστα στη θεα.» (I no longer grieve at the sight.) I spoke softly, my eyes no longer lingered on the leather journal. It was funny that such a small item could have such a strong effect on me, even after so much time has passed I don't feel like I ever healed. No… I knew I hadn't. I would smile, wipe away the tears, and bury the feelings down so deep that it would be hard to reach them again. If I could have I would have stopped feeling anything at all, wished away my heart and all the emotions tied to it, make the pain stop. However I knew it was not good to have such thoughts. Dayita always try to give me advice when she brushed my hair in the mornings. She would tell me not to give up hope of feeling better one day. She would say things like «Ο πονος θα περασει, τα σημαδια θα μεινουν, αλλα απλα θα συμβαλλουν στην ομορφια σου. Φιλη μου, μη κλεινεις την καρδια σου, δεν πληγωνεις μονο τη δικη σου την καρδια ετσι. Θα μαθεις να αγαπας και παλι.» (The pain will pass, you will have scars but it will only add to your strength and beauty. My friend, do not close off your heart, it will not only be yours that you harm.) Or, «Ισως θα σου εκανε καλο να νοικοκυρευτεις με εναν Ελληνα, οπως εκανα και εγω.» (Perhaps it would do you good to settle down with a nice Greek man as I did.)

The found of paper shuffling caused me to refocus my mind. Now was not the time to be living in the past. I had too much I had to do and if I kept allowing myself to be pushed back into things that happened so many years ago then I would never be able to go home. I noticed that Legolas was writing again, like when we were in the woods and I first saw the book. He would flip through the pages and write down words on paper. Then he turned the paper to me, and in very broken down Greek he wrote:

«Εγω συγγνωμη για βιασυνη. Πρεπει μαθουμε επικοινωνησει.v.» (I apologize for the haste. But we need to start leaning to communicate.) It was written out very broken, he obviously couldn't write in my language properly and I didn't blame him. His handwriting was neat and practiced as that of an adult, but the way he wrote reminded me of when I was a small child. My teachers spent many years grooming my writing skills and making me write properly. I looked at him before gently taking the writing utensil from his hand. My fingers lightly brushed against his skin and for a second I felt a tingle. It terrified me and I quickly withdrew my hand. I distracted myself by writing a response on the paper. I wanted to bury that feeling, to forget it happened, to keep my distance before the feelings became stronger. A strand of hair fell in front of my eyes and I brushed it behind my ear as I finished writing. I would use this for now, the writing and focus of learning to distract myself. I promised myself that before I turned the paper so he could see what was written.

«Η συνταξη σου ειναι λαθος.» (Your structure is wrong.) I wrote it twice. The first was broken down, like how he had written things: «Συνταξη σας λαθη.», it was so that he could look it up and understand completely what I had meant to say. But then next to it I had written it again, «Η συνταξη σου ειναι λαθος.», so that he would see the difference. He looked at the paper, looking between the two written sentences. With the ink covered tip of the writing instrument I drew a line between the two sentences. Legolas nodded his head in understanding. Then I began showing the differences in the two sentences I wrote. Pointing out differences. The two other people, the woman and man stood by us and watched as they held one another's hands. I recognized confusion in their faces as they watched. Legolas spoke up, but I don't know what he was saying to them. However they nodded in understanding and watched on as I started to teach Legolas what I could.

We continued like that for quite so time, minutes turned into hours and before I knew it I could see the room growing darker as night replaced day. Legolas was a fast learner, my language was not an easy one to write, yet he seemed to catch on rather quickly. The man, whom I learned was Faramir, and the woman, whose name was Eoywn had left a while ago to tend to other matters. I discovered through writing with Legolas that they were the Lord and Lady of this place, and we were their guests. Legolas was working on making his sentences, they were less broke than they were before, I on the other hand glanced out the window. I looked at the bright moon and stars replaced the now set sun in the sky, under that sky I didn't feel like I was so far from home, like I wasn't so lost. Legolas was in the middle of writing a sentence when the door creaked open. As I turned around to see who had come inside I noticed that Legolas' head was already turned in that direction. By the time I had noticed the young woman, a servant by the looks of it, Legolas had already greeted her.

She was small, and by that I mean she was short and skinny. Her cotton dress was a little large on her and dragged on the floor slightly, nearly tripping her as she carried a tray into the room. Part of me felt like I should help her with the tray before she makes a mess. However before I act on that she had already set it down on a table in the room along with two plates. Legolas and the young maid spoke quickly to one another in polite tones and I tried to listen in, but once again I was faced with the ever growing problem of not being able to understand them. After a minute the maid curtsied and hurried out of the room, holding the ends of her dress up so she wouldn't trip over the fabric. I understood how annoying that could be, I had went through it days earlier.

A nice smell reached my nose and I saw that Legolas had pulled the lid off of the silver tray and revealed food. It smelt nice and like nothing I had really smelt before and it looked different as well. There were many vegetables and fruits on the tray, a few that I recognized from not only Legolas' home, but from my own as well. Grapes, Olives, Celery, as well as a few others. Then there were other ones I didn't recognize, large orange, tan, yellows, and some green ones too. They were shaped in circles, and some other flattened looking circular shapes. There was some meat on the tray that I had never seen before. I walked over to the table and sat across from him, eying the food warily. Legolas waited, when I realized he was waiting for me to put together my plate first I quickly placed vegetables and a little bit of the mystery meat on my plate. Then he put vegetables and fruits on his plate; I noticed that he didn't get any meat but didn't comment on it. Dinner was an odd experience, I had never eaten with him before and so I never knew what to do. Conversation was hard to make when all we could really do was write one another. Minutes passed before a slip of paper was passed to me. When I looked at the slightly improved sentence I noticed that he wished for us to start trying to speak. Pick out words and start trying to learn the oral languages of our peoples. He wrote out the word χαιρετώ (hello).

"Hello." He said, and motioned to the word, indicating that it was how it was said in one of the languages he knew.

"Hell-ro?" I spoke a little bit quieter and he shook his head.

"Hel-lo." He broke it down a little bit.

"Halo?" He shook his head at me.

"Hello." I paused for a moment. Then timidly repeated the word.

"Hello?" He smiled at me this time and nodded. He had me repeat the word a few times before we moved on to me describing how to say it in my language. It took him a few times as well before he got the hang of it. We sat at the table for an hour, even after we had finished eating we just sat there and continued to learn words. So far I learned that _hello_ was a greeting in a more commonly spoke language. _Goodbye_ was to either inform someone you were leaving or what to say to them if they were leaving. He told me there were other things you could say such as; _good morning, afternoon, greetings, _as well as other ways to greet people. Then to bid them farwell you could say; _farewell, bye, _there were other ones; but I could not remember them. Eoywn entered the room shortly after he taught me words to bit someone farewell, and she spoke to him briefly before he bid me good night and left. I laid on my borrowed bed and stared at the cream colored ceiling, I slowly felt sleep creeping up my body before I fell into a deep slumber. I dreamt of the red Bindi that rested upon Ramini's forehead as she was crouched in the river that day.

**Note:**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter and sorry if it was a little boring. I'm sorry updates are random and slow, also for anyone reading my other stories sorry those are taking forever! My co-writers are having trouble getting me their parts of chapters but we're working on it. Anyways please review and tell me your thoughts of Ithil! Feel free to ask me questions and I'll try to review either in a note or in a PM. Bye-Bye for now.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Note:**

**As always I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed and apologize ahead of time for this chapter. It may be a bit hard to swallow for some people because this chapter is more violent than any previous ones but also because it took forever to get this chapter posted. This is also a very long chapter for you guys to enjoy. Also a quick thank you to my friend Dusk who translated Greek for me, as always you're awesome! So go ahead and read.**

_Chapter 13 – Those Who Fight_

_Third Person POV – Unknown Woman_

They continued to walk and the appearance of the woman seemed to worsen as time went on. It must have been well over a week since they left the ship and her dress was barely a dress any more. It was stained from dirt and blood, ripped beyond compare, and hung loosely off her shoulders. Her arms were becoming skinnier and her face showed signs of the lack of food she had consumed. There was cuts all over her arms and legs from either the nature or the company of pirates she was forced to travel with. Her hair was frizzed and a curly mess with dried blood stuck in the front left side of her hair. Her cheeks were bruised from the punishments of continued escape attempts and her lip was cut. Her dark eyes shined with hate and determination that the pirates had tried without success to break. She was a strong one, and they knew that the moment they took her as they did Selene.

During her last escape attempt the Captain had punished one of the four men who were watching her. He killed Goldie to make an example out of him, and now he hung from a tree a few miles back. It was a warning to anyone who will be put in charge of watching her, failure was death. The only good that came from Goldie's death was simply that it one less idiot she would have to rid herself of. One of the men, the one she often referred to as Mermaid, smirked in her direction. Despite her sorry appearance there was still a sort of beauty to her. Her skin was naturally flawless other than the cuts that now marred it and the bruises that she received from the captain. Her determination was somewhat attractive, or it would be if it wasn't to kill everyone around her at the moment. Her slim body and strong limps were hints at what she used to be.

«Γιατι δε μας διασκεδαζεις λιγο? Στο κατω κατω, αυτο δε κανει ο λαος σου?» (Why don't you entertain us? That's what your kind does isn't it?) Mermaid asked as his grin showed his yellowing teeth. His eyes trailed down the dark haired woman's figure and she gave up a disgusted snort in response to him. His comment angered her more than she let on, but it was not an uncommon comment thrown her way, but it was something that many never directly said to her face. Too much risk in it. She knew that he did because he thought he was safe. Far from her home and with her arms tied behind her back once more, unarmed, and weak from hunger; so he thought he was safe to make any comments he pleased.

«Ο λαος μου? Ο λαος μου στελνει κατι πειρατες σαν εσενα στους ταφους τους στη θαλασσα! Ισως να μην μπορω να σε πνιξω στη στερια, αλλα μπορω ανετα να σε σκοτωσω.» (My kind? Well my kind puts pirates like you in your watery graves. I cannot drown you on land but I can kill you none the less.) She answered. Her eyes held a dark fury that promised pain for his rudeness. She wanted to kill him, she wanted to kill all the men who currently surrounded her. The cowards who couldn't fight her on fair terms so they use cheap tricks and numbers to win. Every second that she spend forced in their company fueled that anger and distain for them. As well as the shame she felt for failing the one job that she kept to her heart, the one thing that made her who she was, the thing that gave her the friends and the life she worked hard to keep. They made her fail her job and for that they would feel her anger tenfold, they would die. She would redeem herself for her Queen as well as for her own honor.

«Χα!» (Ha!) Mermaid exclaimed. Causing the girl to look at him from the corner of her eye.

«Να με σκοτωσεις? Εισαι μια απλη χορευτρια και τιποτε αλλο! Φανηκες για καλο κατοικιδιο στη βασιλισσα, και γι αυτο σε κρατησε! Αλλα ειναι στο αιμα σου, γυναικουλα... Οσο και να προπονηθεις, οσα σπαθια και αν κρατησεις, θα εισαι παντα ενα κοριτσι του μπαρ. Να με σκοτωσεις? Εισαι μια απλη χορευτρια και τιποτε αλλο! Φανηκες για καλο κατοικιδιο στη βασιλισσα, και γι αυτο σε κρατησε! Αλλα ειναι στο αιμα σου, γυναικουλα... Οσο και να προπονηθεις, οσα σπαθια και αν κρατησεις, θα εισαι παντα ενα κοριτσι του μπαρ!» (Kill me? You are a dancing girl and that is all you will ever be. The Queen saw you as a little pet, and so she kept you. But it's in your blood woman, no matter how much training you have or swords you receive, you will always be a bar girl!) Blinding fury rushed over her, she saw red from her anger and a new wave of determination rushed over her and into her blood stream. She let a low growl slip past her swollen lips and gritted her teeth slightly. In a deadly calm she spoke quietly to the damn pirate that walked beside her.

«Θα εισαι ο πρωτος που θα πεθανει στα χερια μου.» (You will be the first to die by my hands.) The dark haired woman spoke and each word seemed to be dripping with venom and a coldness that put winter to shame. It was a promise of death from her, and he would be the first man that she killed here. The pirate tried not to let it show that her threat got to him a little and he let out a snort rather than respond to her. However despite how uncaring and unworried he made himself seem she did notice that he seemed to create a bit more space between them. For that she bowed her head down a little and her hair covered her brown eyes as a small smile graced her lips.

"मौत इंतजार कर रहा है." (Death awaits you.) She hummed silently to the man. Mermaid looked a little disturbed at the change in language she used, and while he did not know what she said it unsettled the man more than he cared to admit. They walked on as the captive woman continued whispering things in Hindi to the tattooed man, things he didn't understand but they were all threats. They walked hours and soon Mermaid was allowed to walk ahead and Eye Patch took his place walking next to the dark haired girl. The two of them walked in silence. He felt no need to say anything to the woman and she was focused on trying to find a way to escape and kill Mermaid as she had promised. The sun fell low in the sky before it disappeared completely and they stopped to camp for the night. They were packed up before the sun even rose and moved on. After the first two hours of walking Eye Patch was replaced with Scar and the walk continued. Her stomach was gnawing away at its self from hunger but she bit her lip and remained silent. She would not give them the pleasure of knowing how much they were actually starving her.

The woods were thinning slowly around them and soon they would have to be out on open road. The Captain of the crew found himself realizing that soon they could no longer hide amongst the trees. They would have to think of a new way to restrain the woman. If people came across her beaten and tied it would draw attention and they would likely have to deal with people trying to _help_ her. They walked on and looked for a place to set camp for the night in the woods. They had come across an abandoned camp site that looked a little fresh; most likely it was used hours earlier. But they left it and moved a little ways ahead of it in case the people who had camped there came back. It wouldn't do them good if they stayed only for them to come back, then they would likely have to get rid of the campers. Most people would go find help if they came across their little group, and they couldn't have that. So they continued walking until they lost sight of the former used camp. After about another twenty minutes they made camp as the sun went down.

_Change of POV - Third Person - The Rangers of Emyn Arnen_

Everything was eerily quiet that night after the sun set. Hours passed during the night and there were no sounds coming from owls or other birds and even the crickets seemed to be silent. The unnatural silence caused everyone to be on high alert; the captive and the pirates alike. The Captain barked out orders to his men and a few of them broke off to observe their surroundings as well as find food, while the others stayed at camp and started a small fire as they kept an eye on their prisoner. Shadows moved in the dark as they slowly but surely surrounding the camp of pirates. Human eyes rested on the figure of a young woman, in her current position she looked like a damsel in distress, a helpless maiden in need of rescuing from the stronger men. They could not see much of her face other than her cut lip. Her dark, and currently frizzed, curly hair that covered most of her face as she stared down at her bruised ankles. The rangers had come across the group by chance as they patrolled the forests around their beloved home. Normally their captain would have joined them on this, but he was busy with his wife Eoywn and Elven guest. So the duty fell upon his second in command to carry out the patrols and take temporary leadership. They watched for a while at first. Seeing as the poorly dressed men would switch who was watching the woman; for whatever reason she seemed to be their main focus.

He rose a gloved hand in the night air, the moons light making him seen by his fellow rangers in the dark. At his hand they responded instantly as well in sync with one another; they slid the bows off their backs and notched an arrow while taking aim at the camp. Then they waited, these strangers hadn't done much other than sneaking around, but the appearance of a tied up as well as beaten woman didn't sit well with the Rangers of Emyn Arnen. They watched as one of the men moved, he was rather big with long beard and an eye patch covering his left eye. He walked around the fire, looking at the forest with his visible eye roaming over the trees, trying to spot anything as they waited for the rest of their company to return. The woman spoke, but the rangers didn't know what she said and wondered if she was speaking Elvish. A scarred man beside her growled and hit her, causing her to fall to the side with a painful sounding thud. The rangers tensed, a few of them more visibly upset than others at the poor treatment towards the woman. The scarred man rose and kicked her in the stomach, it was in that moment that the ranger's temporary captain rose his hand higher than before and swiftly brought it down as arrows whistled through the air.

_Change in POV – First Person – Unknown Woman's POV_

I was laying on the ground, every kick to my stomach caused me to cough up any air I had stored in my lungs and quickly try to breathe new air in. With every breath I drew in dirt seemed to be inhaled as well. It caused me to cough slightly as Scar growled and yelled something incoherent to me. I suppose commenting on his precious Captain abandoning them to face whatever unsettled the forest alone upset him, then openly stating my goal to kill them as well as their Captain made his anger worse. His kicks hurt, but I had felt worse and prepared myself for another blow that never came. When I looked up I saw him fall forward and land just a few inches in front of my face. In his back there were two arrows in his back. What happened next seemed to be a blur.

More arrows came out from the trees as the Captain of the Pirate crew ran back into the scene. He had dragged a hooded figure covered in blood and dropped the lifeless lump on the ground as he wiped blood from his sword. Two nervous mates of his ducked close to the ground to avoid arrows as he stood tall and confident; only reminding me of why I wanted to kill the bastard.

«Καπετανιε! Τι να κανουμε?!» (Captain! What will you have us do?!) One of his cronies; a bald man with an ugly scar on his torso called out. While the other mate, a man with blonde hair wearing a bandana stepped hesitantly back towards the woods. Only to have an arrow nearly impale his foot. He jerked forward, once again falling beside Baldy.

«Σκοτωστε τους.» (Kill them.) The Captain answered in an emotionless tone. With that said the pirates let out a throaty roar and pulled out their swords. I had to roll myself out of the way of the pirates running towards another patch of trees. I continued rolling until my back hit a rock to avoid being trampled under their feet. In that moment as arrows were fired a few dark figures emerged from the woods drawing their swords. Then the real righting began. The arrows stopped and it was metal clashing against metal as the pirates tried to fight off the cloaked figures. Soon more of the cloaked figures arrived to help the first three that entered the clearing. The fires light danced around the two groups fighting and I worked on trying to free my hands from behind my back. Suddenly a sword came down in front of my laid position and I glanced up and saw that Mermaid had been disarmed. He quickly dodged the sword of a hooded man and jumped to the side to get a different sword that laid next to the lifeless scarred man. Arrows were being shot once again at the company of pirates as the hooded figures with swords continued their onslaught.

«Καπετανιε, υπερτερουν!» (Captain we are overwhelmed!) The pirate wearing a bandana yelled; obviously he wanted to retreat. I paid him little mind as I turned my body and pushed my hands near the sharp blade to cut myself free of the bonds.

«Τρεξε και πεθανες!» (You run and you will die!) The Captain's voice rang out in the mist of battle. I pressed the ropes to the blade of the sword and rubbed the rope against the blade until they broke apart. I let out a yelp of pain when I felt the blade sink into my palms slightly. I pulled back quickly and looked at my hands, they were bleeding steadily but it didn't cut too deep from what I could see. I pushed myself off the ground and looked around me. A few of the pirates were running into the woods with their Captain, the battle was obviously lost to them and they knew that they couldn't stay any longer. Scar and Baldy were still on the ground, blood leaking out of their mouths as they laid dead.

My head and stomach hurt as I glanced around again. That's when I saw him, he laid on the ground panting as an arrow was sticking out of his chest. The cloaked men hadn't approached me yet as they tended their own wounded numbers and a few other pursued the Captain and his mates. I made my way over to the man on the ground, he was still breathing and slowly I leaned down and picked up a discarded sword from the dirt. Blood rolled down the hilt of the sword from my newly cut hands as I stopped walking and stood above the dying pirate. His mermaid tattoo marked who he was. I lifted the sword and he stared at me with frightened and cold eyes.

«Δεν το εχεις μεσα σου!» (You don't have it in you!) He yelled at me; gaining the attention of the cloaked figures around us. I tilted my head to the side slightly, as I dropped down to my knees next to him.

«Που ξερεις εσυ τι εχω και τι δεν εχω στο αιμα μου? Οπως ειπες, ειμαι απλα μια κοπελα απ' τα μπαρ.» (How do you know what I do or do not have in my blood? As you stated, I am a simple bar girl.) A second later I brought the blade down and stabbed him in the chest, then I lifted the sword and repeated the action. Blood splattered onto my face but I didn't blink. Death was something I had witnessed time and time again, and as I looked onto Mermaid's deathly pale face I remembered how I came to be here. _The drunken men trying to grab at me and my sisters as we were forced to dance for them. The wine bottle I broke over his head when he pulled me out of the groups and pushed me on the floor. The screams tearing through my sisters and my own throat when I realized what I had done. I ran away that night and in the morning I ended up jumping into a river, desperate for water, when I saw _her_. She stood before me and spoke kindly, both in Greek and Hindi._

_She gave me life, she gave me more meaning and education. I was given to the guards as an apprentice and I worked hard to prove myself. I worked hard to show that I appreciated what she did for me that day; I worked to protect my Queen, then to protect the friends I made later that year. That was six years ago, back when I was fourteen; but it felt like a life time ago. _I let go of the sword, it stuck up from Mermaid's chest and the hilt was stained with my blood. Then in seconds there were hands on me and I screamed, kicked, and bit at the people who grabbed me. I struggled as the hooded men forcefully carried me through the woods, to some unknown place. I struggled until my body gave out on my and everything was becoming fuzzy and blended together. Before I passed out I heard one of the men making some sounds, I vaguely wondered if he had spoken, but my head was a bit cloudy and I could not understand him.

"We must get her to the house of healing, her cuts look infected."

**Note:**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and let me know what you think. Also I want to see if anyone has figured out who this girl is (not by name, but she's been shown like 3 times), I think I left some pretty good hints in this chapter. Anyways I'm sorry if the fight scene sucked, I'm not the best at those.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Note:**

**Hey everyone I'm so sorry that this took so long to get out! I'm busy and frankly I just don't have a whole lot of time to do stuff. But I will try to update every few weeks to every month but if I can't, fear not, because this is far from being abandoned. I would like to put it out there that I'm looking for someone to proof read and help me edit this story so that there are fewer errors because I suck at editing my works unless I look at them like two weeks later. So if anyone is interested please PM me, and I don't expect you to do this with nothing in return. I can't pay you, so money is a no, but we can walk about you getting something out of it. Maybe an OC in the story, a one shot dedicated to you, a spoiler, a Q&A with the characters, or something. Please PM me if you're interested.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing other than my ocs.  
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_Chapter 14 – Beauty_

_Third Person POV_

Many pairs eyes looked below the watch towers towards the gate of Emyn Arnen when they saw their rangers return home as the sun rose in the sky. The sun had just started to peek and as the first rays of light hit the earth as the gates opened and many men walked through. They removed their dark hoods allowing their faces to be seen by those around them. They had returned home and many of the women who had woke early that morning wore happy expressions on their faces. Soon they noticed something that was rather unusual about the returning company. There was slim, pale skinned form, in cream and red colored clothing contrasting the black cloaks the men wore. In a mess of curly hair and dried blood did the town realize that in the arms of one of the rangers was a woman. A few brave ladies ran forward when they realized the extra person with the rangers. The ladies examined the injured dark haired woman briefly before they broke off in a small group of three women, including the injured one, and one man carrying the injured. The group of four hurried past the crowd and away from the rangers as they made their way to the house of healing. The look of worry and the urgent way the moved suggested to the masses that the lady the rangers had found was not in good shape.

The crowd parted, creating a direct path through them to the house of healing located a few buildings away from the gates. Few eyes actually turned and watched the rushing forms go past them, the few who turned wondered if that woman was going to be okay. Others looked onward to the rangers and embraced them. The feeling of joy once again filled the air as they hugged the men and kissed their cheeks or lips, depending on their relations to them. The bloodied body of the woman was forgotten just as quickly as the crowd had noticed her. She was not their focus, they did not know the stranger, and so they pushed the image of her to the very back of their minds and the deepest parts of their hearts. She was not one of them and they could not be bothered with her when they had others to attend to. However that was not the mindset of all the people, just the majority. There were others who wondered what her name was, if she would be well, and even prayed for her recovery. They wondered what had happened to the young lady, and they would get their answers out of the men who returned home for the day. Knowing they would leave in the evening. But that would be later, for now they hugged, kissed, and spoke kindly to the tired rangers.

Meanwhile the small group of four reached the house of healing. They rushed her to the side of the room and laid her in the bed. The two women shooed the man away then got to work on the injured young woman after he was gone. They cleaned her up with a soft damp cloth, they washed the blood and dirt off of her face and arms. They cleaned the cut on her forehead near her hairline and tapped a bandage over the cut to keep it from getting worse. Carefully they stripped her of her tattered and bloody clothing, then they carefully washed her body and cleaned any wounds that were hidden by her dress. They quickly redressed her in an off-white loose dress with short sleeves and a low collar. The two women finished their work of cleaning up the woman and started to brush through her long curls. For days it was only these few women who would come in daily and tend to her, there were brief moments when she woke and mumble nonsense when they tried to get her to eat and drink. She barely kept any food down before falling back into unconiousness. They had noticed on the first day that she had applied a circle of red paint on her forehead, for days they left it be, unsure to why it was ever there. But on this day the older of the two women decided that it would be best to clean her off entirely. They had just finished scrubbing down her body and redressed her when they were about to remove the dot.

However at that moment a dark haired elf entered the room. His eyes landed on the newest human resting in the house of healing. He stiffened slightly at the sight of her, it was as if he felt a sudden concern. His body language had become tense and his stared at the woman lying on the bed. Her skin was a paled tan from her starvation and possible illness from being in the elements for so long as well as wounded. She had looked so innocent, so broken and in need of being helped. But he could not have known that days prior to this moment she brutally beat one of her captors to death with a rock. He tried to dismiss any sort of feelings of care for the stranger, but couldn't bring himself to do so.

"I don't believe I have seen her before. Do you know what happened to her?" The Elf asked, startling the two women who were brushing her hair. One of the girls, the older one by a few years looked at the Elf with a mix of surprise and amazement. While the other one looked upon him with a bashful expression.

"You have a good eye then, Master Elf, this woman is not from here." The older one responded in a calm and soft tone, while trying to hide her nervousness at being in the company of a handsome Elf.

"The rangers found her in the forest while they were patrolling. My brother didn't tell me much of what happened, but that she was in bad company and badly injured when they found her." The younger of the two quickly added to answer the other part of his question. Her cheeks were lightly shaded pink, it didn't go unnoticed by the Elf, but he did not comment on it either.

"Found her? No one recognizes her at all?" He frowned, the Elf was likely thinking of the odd woman, Selene, who had shown up similarly. When they had found her she was about to be murdered by an Orc, and yet no one seemed to recognize her. He looked down at the unconscious brunette and noticed something that caused him to jump into action. There was a red dot resting on her forehead, the very one that the older woman was about to wash off.

"Daro!" (Stop!) He shouted in elvish and quickly caught her hand with the cloth in it. The older lady dropped the cloth in shock and cried out in alarm. The dark haired Elf quickly released her arm and offered her an apology. Then he looked at both the women in the eye.

"You mustn't remove that dot, I think it may be a way to place her. Please, refrain from doing anything farther." He said in a stern but gentle tone, the two ladies numbly nodded their heads in his direction, and it did not go unnoticed by the Elf how they seemed to put some distance between them, the bed, and himself.

"Now, did you two notice anything else that you have already washed off? Anything that may have been abnormal to see on a human?" He asked, the women looked at each other for a moment before answering.

"Well, Master Elf; there were circles, similar to the one of her head only larger, on her hands." The younger of the two said, the Elf nodded and walked past them back to the door.

"Please refrain from touching her farther unless it be to help feed her or give her water. I'll be returning shortly." With that said he walked out of the room and headed down the long halls in a brisk way. Soon he could tell he was reaching his destination by the light giggles and whispers of the handmaidens about a certain Elven Prince and to whom he was giving his attentions to. The dark haired Elf had to stop himself from shaking his head at the very thought, Legolas rarely gave any women that sort of attention, and he certainly would not be giving it to a human. He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, he had more important matters to deal with. As he turned the corner he caught a glimpse of a conversation in that language Legolas was trying to learn.

«Πως λες Greenleaf?» (How do you say Greenleaf?) Legolas' voice floated from the room with the slightly ajar door. The dark haired elf quietly peaked into the room. Legolas was sitting at a small table in the room, while the strange human Selene was sitting on the window cell looking outside.

«Πρασινοφυλλος.» (Greenleaf.) She answered. She paused after that, simply looking outside as the clouds slowly rolled by, and then she turned. The sunlight hitting her skin in a way that almost made her glow. Then she looked at Legolas and spoke again.

«Πως σε λενε?» (What is your name?)

«Με λενε Λεγκολας.» (My name is Legolas.) She smiled slightly and then they switched, honestly it was rather impressive that they were learning each others' languages so quickly, although they had been spending all day doing nothing but lessons for the past couple days. It started as writing and then they started trying to talk. Legolas caught onto more of Selene's language than her catching onto his. They paused again and the fair haired elf motioned to Selene start.

"S-Suilad." (Greetings.) She stuttered slightly and lowered her voice a little, probably some sort of nervous habit.

"Man eneth lín?" (What is your name?) Legolas asked.

"Selene… I eneth nín?" (My name is… Selene?) The human sounded slightly unsure as she spoke, Legolas nodded his head, signaling that she was correct. Then the elf pushed a journal across the table and motioned for her to walk over to him. Selene hesitated before she walked over to the table and sat down and opened the book. She looked a little surprised when she opened it and the journal was empty.

"Teitho." (Write.)

"Τι?" (What) The human looked confused for a moment before Legolas wrote a little bit on the paper and then handed her the quill. It was at that moment that the dark hair elf decided to make his presence known. He lightly knocked on the door, drawing both the attention of his leader and the woman before he entered the room.

"Valdon? Man le carel sí?" (Valdon? What are you doing here?) Legolas asked his friend, Valdon did not usually come into the lessons, he often asked the fair haired Elf about it afterwards but Valdon didn't really like being around Selene it seemed.

"There is something you must see, my lord." Valdon said, glancing at the woman who was now paying more attention to him, he wondered how much of that she caught. Legolas arched an eyebrow but quietly stood and looked at Selene.

«Θα τα πουμε αργοτερα.» (We will speak later.) Legolas said kindly and then Valdon turned and walked out with his leader following after him.

«Ενταξει, θα τα πουμε, λοιπον.» (Alright, goodbye then.) Selene answered as they walked out of the doorway. She was confident she had been heard, she had learned recently that Legolas, and the people who looked more like him had very good hearing. She sat there in thought for a moment before she quietly got up and put the book on the table along with the quill. Selene brushed the wrinkles out of the dress she wore and walked out into the hall quietly, she began walking down the hallways hoping to see where the two men had gone.

_Change of POV – First Person – Selene_

I had been slightly surprised to see Valdon come into the room, he briefly spoke to Legolas and from the few lessons I have had I was able to pick out the words "you—see—my lord." It was rather curious to hear him say that, from what I gathered this place belonged to Eoywn and Faramir, not Legolas, so what did Valdon need to show him? I couldn't help but be curious so I wanted to see for myself what was so interesting. As I walked I glanced out the windows I passed, from one of the windows I could see two children playing in a fountain, their hair and skin tones reminded me of Aither and I when I was younger. I felt a bit of a squeeze on my heart and looked away from the windows as I came across two halls leading in different directions. Choosing the one of the left I walked down the hall and thought of Legolas and Faervel, of Eoywn and all of the nice people I met so far_. _

«Αιθερ... αυτος ειναι αραγε ο τοπος που ελεγες?» (Aither… I wonder if this is the land you once spoke of.) I mumbled to myself quietly before I saw a flash of blonde hair.

I quickened my pace and turned the same corner that I saw the flash of blonde go, I noticed it was Eoywn briskly walking down the hall into a large room. I heard voices that I recognized as belonging to Legolas and Valdon. Quietly I approached the archway leading into the room and saw that Legolas, Valdon, and Faramir were speaking to one another while glancing at someone in bed. Eoywn made her way over to them. All I could understand was, mark—similar—Selene—think—she'll know? I felt confused and tried to lean towards the room without entering, however I was holding onto the wall wood on the arch creaked under my weight. My face heated up when Legolas and Valdon's heads snapped up in my direction followed by Faramir and Eoywn, I was caught ease dropping.

"Selene, come in." Eoywn said somewhat slowly and it took a moment for me to process what was said and I slowly entered the room and walked towards them. That slow moving process soon turned into a sprint when I recognized the woman lying on the bed. I sort slipped on my dress in the rush to the bed, causing me to stumble forward and fall to my knees beside the bed, forcing the others out of the way in the process. I shakily took her wrists and felt relief flood my veins when I felt the steady pulse.

« Την... Την ξερω!»

"Legolas, do you know what she said?" Faramir asked.

"Yes. Selene said that she knows her. Selene, who is she?" Legolas asked but I barely heard him, my focus was on Ramini, she was still and if I had not felt her pulse I would have thought her to be dead. There was a jumble of words in the background, but I paid them no mind until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I didn't bother turning my head but I heard Eoywn speak.

"What's her name?" There was silence.

"Selene?" More silence.

"Her name, Selene. What is it?" Valdon's tone was slightly annoyed, I snapped out of my daze and glanced back at them, all I really got was name but I knew what they wanted already.

"Ramini."

"Ramini? Is that her name?" Legolas asked.

«Ναι.» (yes.) There was silence for a moment and Faramir opened his mouth to speak but his mouth snapped shut when they noticed the stirring beside me. I felt her moving in my grasp and quickly turned back to Ramini. Her brow scrunched up slightly and slowly her eyes opened, there was confusion as she stared at the ceiling then her brown orbs moved to me. Her eyes grew wide and she sat up fast. The blanket falling to her waist and she swayed slightly, probably from the rush of sitting up.

_Change of POV – First Person – Legolas _

We watched as the unconscious stirred fully awake for the first time in the past few days according to the two women who had been tending to her the past few days. They said that there were moments of her waking, dazed and mumbling gibberish before falling into unconsciousness, or waking slightly as they fed her or gave her water, but it never lasted too long. They complained that it made it hard to really feed her, they'd get a few bites in before her body shut down and she was unconscious again. I did not have time to really think of what the women had said to us when the two, Ramini, as Selene had called her, and Selene rushed into a conversation.

«Βασιλισσα μου!» (My Queen!) Ramini spoke rapidly, giving a slight bow of her head before holding her forehead with a slight wince.

«Συγγνωμη, σ' απογοητευσα τοσο πολυ! Επρεπε... επρεπε να ξαναψαξω.. θα 'πρεπε να-!» (I am sorry, I failed you in so many ways! I... I should have double checked, I should have-!) Ramini continued to speak quickly, the regret clear in her voice and eyes as she stared down at her lap, not meeting Selene's eyes. For a moment I wondered if she was listening at all for she looked as if her thoughts were elsewhere and she gave the dark haired woman a dry laugh.

«Οχι, φιλη μου, μη κατηγορεις τον εαυτο σου. Λυπαμαι.. Εγω φταιω που βρισκεσαι εδω.» (No, my friend, you cannot blame yourself... I am sorry. It is my fault you are here.) Selene shook her head as she spoke, a sad smile gracing her lips as she rested a hand on Ramini's shoulder. Ramini opened her mouth, her expression making me believe she was going to argue but she was silenced by a sharp look from Selene.

"Do you know what they said Legolas?" Faramir asked.

"No." I answered, pausing for a moment. "They were speaking too fast for me to catch." I lied but no one seemed to notice and I thought back on everything that I was able to understand. From everything I understand on Ramini's side on the conversation was: My—sorry—failed you—checked. With Selene I only caught the words: blame yourself—sorry—my fault. I couldn't understand anything else but I knew something bigger was going on here and I started to think that Eoywn's initial idea about Selene was not so far off and this mystery woman was just another piece of the puzzle.

**Note:**

**And this is where I leave you for now. I'm so sorry it took so long to get this chapter out and I can't say it will be any faster in the future. I want to know your thoughts and remember, that if anyone wants to help me with editing my story I'm looking for someone to help me. PM me and we can talk about it and what sort of reward you will get for helping out.**

**Also if anyone was curious about the title of the chapter and Ramini's meaning. Ramini in a Hindi name meaning "Beautiful Woman" (roughly that anyhow) and so the chapter name is representing getting to meet her on more of a personal level. Fun Fact: EVERY name you come across in this Fanfiction has a meaning to the person connected to it, just in case you're interested.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Note:**

**-****Just a heads up, when Selene speaks in English it will be choppy and certain parts of a sentence might be missing. That is on purpose, because she's still learning so I'm trying not to make it into flowy sentences.**

**-Also I want to thank Dusk for helping with the Greek translations, also the Hindi is not reliable and probably horribly wrong, but that's why I mostly use Greek. I would also like to give a special thanks to Shorty McGee for being awesome and helping proof read my story. **

Chapter 15 – The Broken

First Person POV – Eoywn

The lessons with Selene had ceased once the discovery of Ramini had occurred. That was a week ago and Legolas had been trying to study her language alone for the blonde haired human had been flanked constantly by Ramini; when she could walk that is. And when Ramini was unable to walk around Selene would stay near her. Honestly I wasn't sure if it was because she was only truly familiar with Ramini, or if it was to appease Ramini. I had been helping with the care of Ramini, and she always had a guarded expression; always looking ready to pounce at a moments notice. Some of the rangers said that it was in her shock from being held captive by a band of ruffians for who knows how long. Plus during that time it's evident that she was mistreated, yes, they looked at her as if she was a frightened animal. I didn't think that was the case though. It was not guarded by fear, if anything she was rather outgoing and tough; almost to the point of defiance. No, to me it was clear it was not a result of being afraid, it was more protective. Was it over herself or Selene? I wasn't entirely sure but I was determined to find out eventually. With that confident thought I walked into Selene's room; where she had convinced us to have Ramini stay.

We had been in contact with Aragorn for the past week, he had been okay with Selene going to Gondor to try and figure out where she could have been missing from but now there was the addition of Ramini and that complicated things. Multiple rangers had reported seeing her beat one of her captors to death and she seemed to be on the defensive around us. Not to the point of violence, but it was apparent that she did not trust us in the slightest and we did not know if she could be trusted to go see our King. Looking at her now she seemed rather harmless, she was laying on Selene's bed while Selene spoke to her rapidly in the language I didn't understand. However her eyes shifted to me and the once carelessness or even slightly happy disappeared from her eyes and they turned cold and wary of my presence. I suppose there was no point of simply watching them now, I had already been seen.

"Hello Selene." I smiled at the dark haired woman and she nodded in response. Selene looked back at me and gave me a small smile.

"Hel-lo, Eoywn." She had made a huge improvement since she first got here, although most of her words were broken up still as she tried to remember the sounds from them.

"Do you and Ramini want to dine with the rest of us tonight?" I asked and saw her looked slightly overwhelmed. I gave her an apologetic smile and tried again.

"Would you and Ramini eat with us?" She looked slightly more relaxed when I simplified what I had said and turned to Ramini. The two of them shared a few words before she turned back to me. Selene shook her head.

"No." She answered a little bit quietly. I nodded in respect for her wishes and quietly left the room. Once I was out of the room I heard conversation spark back up between the two women, although it was a bit more sober sounding this time. The lightness of the conversation before was replaced with uncertainty and seriousness. I remained near the door for a few moments longer before I walked down the hall and headed to the dining area. Many servants were placing food on the table when I entered. Faramir sat at the head of the table, the three seats to the right of his chair was vacant. While on his left there were two Elves, Legolas and Valdon, already seated. The three men were talking to one another in a bit of a light sounding tone. The two elves looked up first, likely hearing me approaching before anyone else did. Faramir glanced up as they did and then all three of them rose from their chairs as I got near the table.

"Did they not wish to join us?" He asked and I shook my head.

"The newer one; Ramini, is distrustful. And Selene doesn't seem to wish to leave her side for too long. So they stayed behind in their room. I'll have someone bring them dinner in a bit." I answered as I gave my husband a gentle hug and sat beside him at the table. After I sat the men followed suit.

"I'm curious to where they came from, though… I doubt we will receive any answers from Gondor." Valdon spoke softly, although he had said he was curious it didn't show on his face. Well trained mask I suppose

"Gondor is more connected to other trading routes then Eoywn and I are, so it's possible he may be able to place her through that. If not, do you think it may be possible for your father to place her, Legolas? He is much older and must have seen more than the rest of us have." Faramir asked. Before Legolas could answer I spoke up.

"Perhaps this is a conversation best saved for after dinner."

"Yes… You are right Lady Eoywn." Legolas answered politely. I smiled kindly at the Elf and waved a servant over to the table. She quickly walked over and bowed slightly.

"Dante? Please take a cart of food to our guests. They have decided to stay in their room for the night." The young lady nodded and quickly left the room. Headed to the kitchen if I had to guess. The rest of the servants quickly finished setting the plates of food on the table and walked out of the dining area to give us privacy to speak to one another. We ate in a comfortable silence.

Change of POV – Third Person Limited

The two out of place women spoke in more sober tones after Eoywn had left the room. Ramini listened to the sound of her steps echoing down the halls before she laid back down on the bed. She stared at the ceiling, she heard the cutting of fabric a mumbled curse from her Queen. Ramini tried her best not to laugh but couldn't stop the small smile from appearing on her lips. She sat back up and saw Selene was trying to adjust a dress that had been given to her, Ramini had already tailored hers to be short sleeves and stop a little bit below her knees. Easier to move around in. The dark haired maiden shook her mess of curls and took the dress from Selene. Ramini heard her friend sigh as she mumbled an apology.

"आप माफ करने की जरूरत नहीं है।." (You don't have to be sorry.) Ramini answered simply. She grabbed a needle and thread off the table and started to fix the mess that her friend created. Ramini looked down at the dress, her sewing was surprising delicate despite her normal brutish behavior. Something she had learned from Charma. She missed her, Charma must be going out of her mind with worry. Hell the entire kingdom had to have been; their Queen was gone. Their head of the guard was gone. Ramini bit her lip, trying to push those thoughts away, to a darker place where she would revisit them later.

«Θα μπορουσες να ειχες παει με το μερος τους.» (You could have joined them.) Ramini spoke suddenly, causing Selene's head to snap up at the comment.

«Και να σε αφησω εδω? Οχι... Οχι, δε θα μπορουσα» (And leave you here? No, I… I could not.) Selene responded with a calm and seemingly careless tone, but Ramini knew better. She had known Selene for many years now, and she knew she had wanted to go and stayed behind for Ramini's sake. The dark haired woman opened her mouth, as if to protest, but then shut it again. There was silence, it must have only lasted for a mere few seconds but it felt like it stretched on forever as Ramini tried to collect her thoughts. Finally she sat the dress down on her lap, the needle and thread still handing from where she was stitching. She smiled at her friend.

«Θα μπορουσες, αλλα δε θα παραπονιομουν αν με ηθελες κοντα σου. Δε θα σε απογοητευσω και δευτερη φορα.» (You could, but I won't complain if you wish to stay in my sights. I won't fail you a second time.) Selene felt herself frowning as Ramini finished her sentence. She shook her head and walked over to her friend, placing a pale hand over hers.

«Ραμινι, σε παρακαλω, σταματα. Δε με απογοητευσες.» (Ramini, stop. You did not fail me.)

«Το αφησα να συμβει.. δεν ημουν... κι εκεινοι... Εχουμε ξεμεινει σε αυτον τον περιεργο τοπο επειδη απετυχα να κανω σωστα τη δουλεια μου.» (I let this happen, I was not... And they... We are stuck in a strange land because I failed my job.) Ramini withdrew her hand, the guilt weighing heavily on her. It was her fault. Their country was open to attack now. It was in a weakened state and they were Gods know where possibly oceans away from home! It was Ramini's fault! She did not double check the guests to the ball, she did not catch all the signs, and_ she_ let her Queen get kidnapped. Selene, as if reading her friend's thoughts took her hand once more. Ramini gently pulled her hand free and resumed sewing the dress.

«Κανεις δεν ειναι τελειος.» (No one is perfect.) Selene's words were strong and filled with confidence. She left not room for debate on the matter, no room for Ramini to disagree with what perfectionwas. Ramini seemed to catch that; but it didn't stop the words spilling from her lips.

«Τετοια σφαλματα δεν ειναι επιτρεπτα.» (Mistakes are not acceptable.) Then there was silence, the only sound in the room was the shifting of the fabric until the door opened.

Change of POV – First Person – Selene

I walked around the halls alone, the previous night had been uncomfortable with a pregnant silence. Ramini could not forgive herself and I felt guilty for it. I had given her so much responsibly at a young age. She was barely past her nineteenth summer and she was already carrying a heavy burden. I wouldn't have entrusted it to her had I not believed she was more than capable. I sighed silently to myself; she was capable of doing her job and doing it well, but perhaps I overestimated how much stress she could take on herself. As I approached the doorway of our current room I saw her rush out. I offered her a smile and she sighed in relief. We didn't need to speak, I already knew what she was thinking. She was uncomfortable with me leaving her sights, afraid I'd be captured. I shook my head in her direction and walked over to her.

"आइए। यहाँ खूबसूरती की प्रशंसा करते हैं।." (Come, let's enjoy the beauty here.) I spoke softly in her language. She hesitated and I raised an eyebrow. I asked her if she was afraid, not really in a serious way, but more of a playful and casual tone. Ramini merely snorted in response and quickly walked over to me. Wearing her tailored dress; the colors were not as vibrant as she liked them to be. A dull purple and cream accents on the fabric. She muttered "let's go", and I grinned a little as we walked into the gardens. It was peaceful out here. There were a few people walking around which reminded us that we were not home, but the nature was nice. That was when I saw them. Legolas and Valdon were out, well it mostly looked like Legolas was studying and Valdon was doing target practice. Then as if sensing that we were looking at them Valdon turned and looked at us. Although his focus seemed to be more on Ramini. I glanced over at her and noticed that she was crouched down looking at the different flowers and picking one.

I gave him a kind smile and tapped Ramini's shoulder. I motioned for her to follow me as we continued to walk through the garden. There was a small pond in the garden and I choose to sit there watching the fish swim in circles in the pond. We sat in a comfortable silence as Ramini pulled the petals off of a flower and placed them in the water. From my corner of my eye I could see Valdon watching her again. There was a brief moment were he looked vaguely curious but then he quickly schooled his features into a look of indifference.

«Σε παρακολουθει.» (He watches you.) I murmured quietly to Ramini, I saw his eyes on me for a moment before he looked at Legolas who told him something in their own language. Valdon looked somewhat offended while Legolas looked amused for some reason. I couldn't dwell on it for long though, Ramini recaptured my attention with what seemed to be a thoughtful comment—

«Με παρακολουθει? Ισως ναι, ισως παλι να θελει να παλεψει.» (Watches me? I suppose he does, perhaps he wants a fight.) –until she finished her thoughts. I smiled and shook my head. A fight? No, I doubted that was his intentions. Besides it seemed more like fascination rather than the need to challenge her. Legolas then spoke again to Valdon who snorted slightly in response, it was at that point I began to realize he was translating. I had to wonder just how well Legolas was able to understand us. Perhaps he had been studying a little more than I thought.

«Αμφιβαλλω γι αυτο.» (I doubt that.) I said, but it was as if she didn't hear a word from me. She seemed more fired up at the thought of a fight. So instead she kept speaking of a fight.

«Θα την εκανα κιμα... Κυρατζα-» (I'd crush that… Lady like-) I felt my eyes widen at the insult that was coming and harshly responded in a bit of a reprimanding tone; interrupting her.

«Ραμινι!» (Ramini!)

«Την αληθεια λεω!» (It's true!) Ramini argued and I shook my head at her rude behavior. The two Elves seemed to have lost track of our conversation as Legolas looked a little bit confused.

«Μην ξεχνας τους τροπους σου!» (Manners!) I scolded her and she puffed out her cheeks like a child, probably dying to fight someone. I shook my head and frowned at her, honestly… She just got out of a bad situation where she was sick and injured, yet here she was itching to fight someone. Sometimes I couldn't understand how Ramini's mind worked. I started to lecture her about it when Lady Eoywn walked over to us. Her husband already talking to Valdon and Legolas. I looked at her and she smiled at me.

"I'm sorry to interrupt Lady Selene." She apologized and I saw Ramini watching her suspiciously.

"It… It alright." I answered, she paused for a moment, probably catching some sort of mistake in my speech, but if she did she choose not to respond.

"Please follow me." She paused, likely giving me a much appreciated moment to translate in my head. "There are things that we must discuss." Another pause. "Ramini is required to come as well." Ramini tensed at the mention of her name and I gave her a light pat on the shoulder before nodding at Eoywn. I didn't get the entirety of what she was saying but I gathered that they wished to have a meeting with Ramini and I.

"Please lead." She flashed me another smile before she walked quickly over to the boys who had started walking back into the palace. She walked beside her husband leaving Ramini and I to walk beside Valdon and Legolas. The blonde elf nodded his head in my direction and then at Ramini who tried to ignore him until I nudged her. She reluctantly nodded in response to Legolas and then at Valdon as well. We walked down the halls until we reached what looked to be a private study. Faramir motioned for us to enter and then shut the door.

"We have received word from Gondor. Lord Aragorn and Lady Arwen have agreed to the possible risks of taking both of the women into the Kingdom. They… They feel like they may have better luck at finding where they came from." He spoke somewhat quickly, too quickly for me to really understand. Something about two women, us I assume. Some place, did he call it Gondor? And two names; Aragorn and Arwen, by the way he addressed them I assume they might be important.

"Then we are to escort them there?" Eoywn asked, a spark seemed to light in her eyes.

"Yes. Aragorn thinks that perhaps it would be best that we stay for a while. It may keep the two of them comfortable having some familiar faces." Faramir and Eoywn spoke back and forth a little bit. I felt myself starting to tune them out, all the talking and trying to understand it was making my head ache. Legolas glanced at me and cleared his throat.

"Selene?" I looked up at him when he said my name.

"Do you understand?" He asked softly, I hesitated before shaking my head. I glanced at Ramini who looked more annoyed and lost then I did. I understood that feeling; perhaps I'd convince her to learn what they called Common Tongue.

«Θα φυγουμε παλι.» (We will be moving again.) Legolas said, this time however he was able to say it in my language, and fluently too. I was rather surprised, he was picking up on my language quicker than I expected him to. I always found myself becoming rather surprised by him. I didn't get the chance to answer him though. Before any words could escape from my mouth Ramini beat me to the punch. Her dark eyes trained on him.

«Για που?» (Where to?) She asked, it wasn't a soft tone but it wasn't outright hateful or even annoyed. Just… Strong, perhaps a little bit of her nervousness and worry seeped in as well. But above all she kept a strong and distant air around her. His blue eyes shot to hers for a moment before he looked at the both of us.

"Gondor." I was busy trying to understand what this Gondor place was. Was it connected to the two names I heard? Why were we going there and for how long? I felt those thoughts get ripped away from me as soon as I heard Ramini grumble what sounded suspiciously like a sarcastic "helpful" in response to Legolas. I felt myself frown a bit more.

"Ramini."

**Note:**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, next chapter they will be headed to or in Gondor. I have a question and I NEED answers. So please leave them in a review. Who is interested in seeing a chapter where you get to see Selene's and Ramini's home? I don't mean in a flash back but having a chapter dedicated to it completely? Please review!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Note:**

**I will be doing a double update sense this chapter is more of a look into Selene's home rather than a chapter with Selene. This chapter is rather short but don't worry as I said before this is a double update. I hope that you enjoy seeing her home.**

Chapter 16 – Crystal Sea

A soft breeze blew through the city, the empty streets that were once filled with life was now bare. Families were huddled inside their homes praying. Many prayed to be protected from invaders that would eventually come to attack. Others prayed for the safe return of their Queen; unharmed and in good health. Children wondered around their homes aimlessly, looking out the windows with a desperate need to play now that they had finished their chores. Perhaps go to the cliffs and look down at the clear and deeply blue waters below. The sea was calm today; moving fluently and softly hitting against the rocks while brushing up onto the sand before pulling away and repeating the motion. Walls were built around the kingdom of Shashi, to protect it. Homes of the people were built out from the walls, lining up and around the palace of the royal family in a shape that mimicked the island's own crescent shape. Flowers were planted all around the houses of the peasants and then the architecture expanded into small clustered stores at the base of the palace. Colors of cream, gold, white, and brown decorated the homes. There was a difference in the roofs of Shashi's people; the common people's roofs were arched up and closed off. While the palace's own roofs were dome shaped with what looked like rings going down the outside of the roof until it connected with one of the walls.

The ground was sloped uphill and the roads were covered with stone; giving the center point of the kingdom an elegance to it. There were small arches along the walls that lead out of the city, only five obvious openings in total. One was to the east where the woods were. There was two to the north and west side of the city that lead into their harbor. Then there were two towards the south end; where it connected to a smaller section for the less wealthy people of Shashi. In the east past the woods was another small village. Wild flowers grew all along forest road and another wall shielded the smaller village from enemies. The village homes were connected to one another and looked to be made of hand-made clay brick. They clustered together in almost a maze like structure for the village. There were a few areas where the walls were up higher suggesting multiple levels. The largest of which looked rather abandoned; a royal notice chiseled into the wall dissuading the people from entering the building. Many of the men and women walking the streets would not even look in its direction. They nervously hurried along the streets; some headed to their small homes or to the fields or forest.

There was a large field with people working in them further east of the small village. Growing what looked like food near the river called Eurotas. It was known for rising high over the banks with the moon during certain times of the year and bringing very fertile soil to the kingdom. Eurotas went around the ends of the fields and through the forest back out of the east side of the island from which it came. It was more of a circular form; and only crossable during low tide, otherwise you'd be swept away in her arms.

Servants scurried around the palace halls; normally there was much more joy within the walls however the recent few weeks had been tough. The entire kingdom was in a state of panic and the one of the Queen's niece and nephew took the throne temporarily. Her niece rather beautiful too; with her sharp cheek bones, raven hair cascading down her back and over her shoulders. Her eyes were the same shade of grey as Selene's were. Out of all the royal family Isis resembled the Queen the most; if it were not fact that the Queen remained unmarried in her rule many would have thought for the princess to easily be her daughter. Her dress was a light lavender color and was cut open into a V shape once it passed below her knees and then dragged behind her for a good foot. She wore a golden circlet that had a red jewel drop down a little to the center of her forehead. Isis' husband was not as lovely as she. He was more bulky than princess, but that was the pure muscle he had. He towered over her by a good foot and he had dark brown curly hair that framed his face and fell over his ears and down his neck. His arm was bent out a little and on his bicep thin pale fingers gently held on as he lead the Princess through the halls and to a large throne room where their main advisors were waiting for them.

«Υψηλοτατε σας περιμεναμε.» (Your Royal Highnesses, we have been waiting for you.) One of the two men spoke up. His hair was a dark shade of brown and hung loosely down past his ears. He was rather tall and his face was clean shaven. The man next to him had shorter red hair and grey eyes, he was a tad bit shorter than the dark haired man but also clean shaven. The other non-royal was a tall and lean woman. Her hair was a light shade of brown that was braided off to one side and hung down past her breasts. Her eyes were a deep shade of green and she were a stoic expression as she listened to the conversation that began to take place.

«Εχεις νεα για τη βασιλισσα μας?» (Do you have news of our Queen?) The stand-in king asked as he felt his wife's hand slip off of her arm as she walked to the large arched windows and looked outside. Her eyes traced the clouds absent-mindedly as a young man walked to her side. His eyes were the same shade of grey that his mother and aunt had, while his hair was curly and dark like his fathers'. While he was not slim like his mother nor was he bulky like his father. However the distinct muscle definition on his arms showed that he did not lack muscle despite his appearance.

«Οχι... Ουτε η Μεγαλειοτατη ουτε η Λαιδη Ramini απο τη φρουρα εχουν εντοπισθει.» (No… Both her Royal Highness and Lady Ramini of the Guard has not been spotted as of late.) The dark haired advisor said solemnly.

«Ελπιζω οι αετοι να φερνουν αναφορες απο τα πλοια.» (I trust the eagles are bringing back reports from the ships.) The young prince stated from his position next to his mother. The red haired man turned to the young royal and nodded.

«Τελευταια φορα που ειχαμε νεα ηταν πριν κατι μερες. Αναμενουμε καινουρια αναφορα απο στιγμη σε στιγμη.» (We last heard from them a few days ago. We should have a new report any day now.) The red haired advisor said softly; the same seriousness resided in his voice but he spoke with more tenderness than the darker haired man.

«Δεν κινουμαστε αρκετα γρηγορα, Αντρεα.» (We are not moving fast enough Antreas.) The young man's father spoke up, Isis turned her grey eyes from the window to her husband. The bulky and curly haired royal stared at the two male advisors with a seriousness.

«Αρχελαε.» (Archelaus.) Isis called her husband's name softly. Her gaze turned back to the window briefly as she stared at the object that caught her attention moments before.

«Πριγκιπα μου, κινουμαστε οσο πιο γρηγορα μπορουμε, αλλα δεν μπορουμε-» (My prince, we are moving as fast as we can. But there is only so much-) The dark haired man spoke up before Antreas had the opportunity to do so. However he did not have the chance to finish his sentence before Isis' husband, Archelaus, interrupted him.

«Ουτε να το σκεφτεσαι να ολοκληρωσεις αυτην την προταση.» (Do not even think to speak those words.) He warned; his voice dripping with venom at the sentence he knew was about to come from his advisor's mouth.

«Μεγαλειοτατε, λυπαμαι αλλα καποιος πρεπει να το πει. Δεν μπορουμε να κανουμε τα αδυνατα δυνατα. Η χωρα κινδυνευει απο εισβολη, ποσο μαλλον τωρα με την απουσια-» (Your highness I apologize but it must be said. There is only so much we can do before we have to move on. The country is in danger of invasion, even more so with the absence-) The dark haired man spoke boldly.

«Απαγωγη!» (Kidnapping!) Archelaus and Isis son interjected, but the man did not stop his small speech to the royal family.

«-της Βασιλισσας. Πρεπει καποιος αλλος να παρει την εξουσια.» (-of the Queen, we must have someone new take charge.) Archelaus shook his head at the suggestion. His glare fixing on the man.

«Ανεπιτρεπτ.» (Unacceptable.)

«Αρχελαε, πρεπει να δεις κατι.» (Archelaus, there is something you must see.) Isis interrupted once again; her husband glanced in her direction briefly before brushing her off.

«Οχι τωρα Ισιδα.» (Not now Isis.)

«Ο Αετος-» (The Eagle-) Isis tried again but her words fell on death ears as her husband spoke to the red haired advisor. His glare briefly leaving the dark haired man.

«Αντρεα, περιμενω να ακουσω νεα της θειας μου συντομα. Μη με απογοητευσεις.» (Antreas I expect to hear news of my aunt soon. Do not fail me.)

«Ειναι στη θαλασσα, θα μπορουσε να βρισκεται οπουδηποτε. Πρεπει να σκεφτεις τη χωρα σου!» (She is on the sea, she could be anywhere. You must think of your country!) Antreas spoke with a sense of exasperation. He agreed with his fellow advisor's statement. The country was in need of another ruler to take place of the lost Queen.

«Αυτο κανω.» (I am.) Archelaus growled.

«Η Βασιλισσα διοικησε για αρκετο καιρο. Ισως ειναι καιρος η εξουσια να περασει στον επομενο. Ας αναλαβει η Μεγαλειοτης σας το θρονο.» (The Queen as ruled for long, perhaps it's time to move down the line. Your Royal Highnesses shall take the throne.) The advisor's argued. Isis sighed as she turned to fully face the men in the throne room. A look of irritation marred her beautiful features.

«Αρκετα. Επεστρεψε αετος.» (Enough. There is an eagle that has returned.) Isis spoke with a bit of sharpness in her voice as she pushed open the window and the beautiful bird landed onto the windowsill. It ruffled its feathers before making what sounded like a whistling sound. The men in the room quickly made their way over to the window where the Queen affectionately ran her fingers over the eagle's head. There was a small bag tied to the eagle's leg which one of the Advisors gently untied from the bird's leg and took out the small folded up paper from the bag.

«Τι λεει το γραμμα?» (What does the letter say?) Archelaus asked.

«Το πληρωμα του Berenice εντοπισε το πλοιο. Γραφουν οτι βγηκε εκτος ροτας. Δεν κατευθυνονται στην πατριδα τους.» (The crew of the Berenice has spotted the ship. They reported that ship went off course from what we originally thought it would go; they are not headed to their home country.)

«Και που κατευθυνονται?» (Where are they headed?) The young prince asked. Isis looked over at them from her position next to the eagle. She made some sort of command that then men were too busy to hear and a minute later a servant rushed into the room with food for the messenger Eagle.

«Δε γνωριζουμε. Οι ανεμοι δεν ηταν με το μερος μας. Μειναμε πισω στην επιδιωξη μας. Ο Καπετανιος λεει οτι φαινοταν σαν να ανοιγονταν ακομη περισσοτερο στη θαλασσα.» (We do not know, the wind seemed to be against us. And we have fallen behind in the pursuit. The Captain says that they seem to just be going farther out into the open sea.) Antreas said as he looked over the thin paper in his hands.

«Δωστε αναφορα στα υπολοιπα πλοια. Θα ενωθουν με το Βερενικη και θα βοηθησουν στην αναζητηση.» (Report to the other ships, they are to get the coordinates of the Berenice and assist in the pursuit.) Archelaus commanded before he took his leave with his wife and son, Bazyli. The two male advisors were left alone and the dark haired man sighed. He looked to the woman who had seemed to keep her mouth shut during the entire event. She merely smirked at him and called after the stand-in King and Queen.

«Αμεσως, Υψηλοτατε.» (Right away your Highness.)

**Note:**

**Okay so I want to clarify a few things before I get questions about it or people get confused. I'm going to start with how the royal structure works in Selene's kingdom. Similar to Egypt the right to rule is passed through the Daughters. It's why a lot of Pharaohs married their sisters, aunts, cousins, etc. That and to keep bloodlines "pure" with the royal blood. That's why Selene is Queen and unmarried. Isis and Archelaus are cousins and Bazyli is their son. It may seem really wrong in today's standards but back then things like that were common in royalty. So yea; there is your lesson on the Royal Family. Please Favorite, Review, and Follow.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Note:**

**This is the second part of the double update. I apologize ahead of time for this chapter. Um and the ones to follow with really weird Dialog. Similarly to earlier chapters and later ones to come they're learning to speak and so it's going to sound weird. When you look at something and it looks weird sound it out and it'll probably make more sense.**

Chapter 17 – Carry On

Selene's POV – First Person

Ramini and I spent the last day in my room with Legolas and Valdon. It would seem that Legolas thought it would be wise to continue our "Common Tongue" lessons as well as some Greek. Ramini and I were sitting at one end of the table, with our backs to the window. While Legolas and Valdon sat on the other end facing the two of us. I watched as Ramini was having a bit of trouble with the new language, honestly I didn't blame her for that. I had my own problems learning the language as well. It was rather difficult and unlike what my tutors taught me when I was young. Valdon had a few less problems with our language though. Perhaps he had starting taking a few lessons from Legolas after the garden incident? –"Selene?"— He did seem a little lost before. So I wouldn't be surprised if it frustrated him like it does Ramini to not know what people are saying.

"Selene? Are you listening?" Legolas interrupted my thoughts. I was brought out of my little day dream and leaned off on my hand looking at him. Without meaning to I reverted back to my language.

«Τι?» (What?) I asked. His brow furrowed slightly and this time he repeated himself in my own language.

«Ακους?» (Are you listening?) Legolas asked.

«Εσυ δεν υποτιθεται οτι εισαι πιο εκλεπτυσμενη?» (I thought you were supposed to be more schooled than this?) Ramini asked in a teasing tone. I rolled my eyes slightly but felt myself smile at her comment. She was recovering and returning to how she once was. Ramini seemed to be less on edge but one look at her reminded me that I was wrong. She was still very guarded and any sense of teasing or happiness right now was simply for my sake. She was trying to pretend for me, and I don't know what made me sadder; that she felt the need to pretend or that she thought I couldn't see through the façade.

«Ραμινι, Σκασε!» (Oh hush, Ramini.) I scolded her playfully. Then I looked to Legolas.

«Τι ελεγες, Λεγκολας?» (What were you saying Legolas?) I asked. He seemed to smile a little while Valdon was writing things down in an empty journal. Perhaps recording what he was learning for future use?

"I would like for Ramini and yourself to look through the journal." Legolas spoke softly and set the leather bound book down on the table between Ramini and I. The book did not bring me the same amount of pain as the first time I saw it. Now it was a dull and lonely ache deep in my heart when I saw it. After all why should I be so sad to see a piece of the man I once loved? He left this writing to us now. Perhaps it was the Gods' will to have this left here for us. Maybe… Just maybe Aither was watching over and guiding us through this time and this journal symbolized it.

"Very well." I responded I ran my fingers over the leather briefly before opening it. The pages were neat still with columns where it had our language written next to other things in their language. Ramini looked at the book and started working on the greetings. We spent some time like that. Looking over the words and asking how to say things. Legolas would bounce between helping Ramini and I and then helping Valdon with my language. It never ceased to amaze me how quickly the blonde elf learned. It could not have been more than a few weeks and he was speaking better than most could hope to. It made me wonder how long he studied when he was not in my presence. My tutors would have been so pleased to have had such a dedicated student. I felt a small smile grace my lips before I felt a nudge from Ramini.

«Ξερεις πως το προφερουν αυτο?» (Do you know how to say this?) She asked and I glanced down at the word she had pointed out; the smile fading a little as I remembered the lesson at hand.

"Greetings." I responded.

"Gret-t-ings?"

"Greetings."

"Greet. Ings?"

«Μην κανεις παυση. Πες το γρηγορα ολο μαζι.» (Do not pause. Say it fast and together.) I said. Then repeated the word.

"Greetings?"

«Σωστα.» (That is correct.)

«Και ετσι χαιρετας καποιον?» (And this is a way of saying hello to someone?)

«Ναι.» (Yes.) Ramini smiled a little bit; probably feeling rather proud at how the lessons were going. I felt a small smile grow on my lips as well at the sight. Ramini had some problems when it came to learning; it was usually rare for her to really listen and follow along. It was not a matter of being unable to grasp whatever she was being taught but more of a lack of will to learn things she had little to no interest in. It was fortunate that she had taken an interest in learning to speak with them; she was probably getting tired of having me speak for her. Ramini was always more of the independent type and it probably annoyed her. Her dark curls bounced around her face as she looked back down suddenly at the book trying to find new words to learn to pronounce. My attention was pulled away from my friend as I heard Valdon and Legolas talk to each other in a different more musical language. I recognized it vaguely, Legolas had once tried to teach it to me while I was learning common tongue. I think he decided that he'd rather have me focus on one language rather than two.

"Anírach i dulu nín?" (Do you want my help?) Legolas asked.

"Tancavë." (Yes.) Valdon responded and Legolas wrote down a word before speaking it out loud. Ramini and I recognized him as saying "hello" to Valdon. The other Elf paused for a moment before he repeated it back to Legolas.

« χαιρετώ.» (Hello) The word rolled off of Valdon's tongue, but it sounded a little odd coming from him as he tried to force the syllables a bit too much. Legolas gave a light shake of his head before he repeated the word a little slower than before. Trying to allow his friend to hear the sounds in it better. Valdon repeated the word back, and this time it came out more fluent.

"Mae carnen." (Well done.) Legolas smiled at his friend.

"Le hannon." (I thank you.) Valdon responded in a polite tone. Legolas nodded in response before continued to write in his own journal. After a minute he turned the book towards Valdon.

"Sí." (Here.)

« Τι λένε? » (What are they saying?) Ramini asked me. I glanced back at her and saw that she too was watching the pair of elves with curious eyes.

« Δεν γνωρίζω. Δεν ξέρω αυτή τη γλώσσα. » (I do not know. It is not a language I am familiar with.) I responded. I could tell by the look in her brown orbs that she didn't really like that we were both unaware of what was being said.

« Επίτηδες το κάνουν? » (Do they do it on purpose?) Ramini asked stiffly. I looked back at the two of them as they seemed lost in their own world while learning the new language. But I could see that they would both glance towards us from time to time. Probably aware that we were talking about them. Legolas was getting better at listening to us speak in our home language. Sometimes I wondered just how much he really knew. There was a silence between Ramini as I as they continued their musical language. She looked back at me expectantly and it occurred to me that I did not respond to her. With a glance to her I answered.

« Δεν νομίζω. » (I don't believe so.) Ramini still frowned at my response; uncertainty in her eyes. I looked away from her and back at the two men sitting just a few feet away from us.

« Ακούγεται... » (It sounds…) Ramini left off, not completely finishing her thought. She seemed to be searching for the proper word to express how she felt. I did not glance at her as I finished her thought.

« Όμορφη?» (Beautiful?)

«Ναι.» (Yes.)

« Συμφωνώ.» (I agree.) I spoke softly and adverted my eyes from the two elven men. Ramini followed suit shortly after and we continued the lessons. The rest of the day was rather uneventful and soon the sun set behind the mountains in the distance. Legolas and Valdon walked with Ramini and I to the dining hall. Ramini would occasionally look at Valdon from the corner of her eye. I noticed that she had done this a few times in the past and had originally thought it was a sign of infatuation. However after knowing Ramini for many years I knew now that it was her sizing up a possible opponent. I lightly sighed and shook my head as we reached the dining room. Eowyn and Faramir were already seated at the head of the table. Legolas and Valdon sat to the left side of the table while Ramini and I sat on the opposite side of them.

Other people joined us at the table shortly after we sat down. Conversation went fast and Ramini and I kept quiet for the most part. Not partially taking part in the conversation. Ramini was still so new to the language that she would not had been able to carry much of a conversation pass "hello" and "my name is…" As for myself they all spoke too quickly and I would end up making them repeat themselves a few times before I could even think of a response to them. I would rather wait until I was a little more familiar with the language. The rest of the evening passed in a blur; goodbyes were said and we all retired to our rooms. Ramini remained awake for hours passed the usual sleeping hour. A candle lit beside her bed becoming smaller as time passed; the leather bound journal in her hands as she studied words on the pages. Mumbling to herself:

"Hello…"

"Goo.. Bye…. Goo… Bye…. Goo… de… bye… Goodbye."

"Ha-ow day? How day?" Ramini was trying to be quiet but I could still very clearly hear her. I was laying on my side facing the wall just listening. I felt a since of pride swell inside my chest when she was working hard like this. I vaguely wondered if it was similar to how a mother felt when her child took their first steps, or said their first words. To compare Ramini to a child of mine was rather odd. I never had children, although I was plenty old enough to be her mother if not grandmother. She continued trying to figure out how to properly say the sentence when I spoke. I didn't turn around or really move in general; I simply spoke as I traced the designs cast on the wall by the light of the fire with my eyes.

"How was your day?" There was a pause of silence; Ramini probably had not known that I was awake.

"How… How waz you day?" Pause. "How was… your day?" I heard the pages of the book turn a few times before she softly placed the journal near her bed. I saw the light from the candle dance across the wall wildly before it was blown out completely. We laid in the darkness in silence; waiting for morning to come.

We were escorted out to the stables at dawn with Legolas, Valdon, Eowyn, and Faramir by the guards. It seemed that we would be traveling mostly in a small group; besides the six of us there were only two guards accompanying us to wherever we were going. Was it what they had called Gondor? There were only six horses out and with a slight frown I realized that Ramini and I would be riding with someone else. I looked to the four pair of eyes watching us as the guards were busy readying their own horses.

"Who would you like to ride with?" Eowyn asked. I felt vaguely lost still in her language and after I didn't answer she tried again.

"Do you mind sharing a horse? With… Legolas?" She asked a bit slower while looking at me. I turned and met his gaze for a moment before I adverted my eyes to Ramini. She had a sour look on her face; and if I had to guess she figured that we would be sharing a horse with someone else and she would have preferred not to. I gave her a soft smile before softly speaking to her.

«Θα ιππευσουμε μ' αυτους. Θα προτιμουσες να μοιραστεις αλογο με καποιον αλλο?» (We will be riding with them. Is there someone you would rather share a horse with?) I asked as Ramini watched on warily with that same sour look.

«Το κανουν γιατι δεν μας εμπιστευονται.» (They do this because they do not trust us.) Ramini accused. I felt myself frown and had I been looking I been looking at Legolas I would have seen him mirror my expression.

«Δεν... Δεν πιστευω οτι αυτος ειναι ο λογος. Ισως δεν εχουν αρκετα αλογα η δεν νομιζουν οτι ξερουμε να ιππευουμε.» (I… I don't believe it to be that way. Perhaps they lack the necessary horses or believe we do not know how to ride on one properly.) I explained, Ramini looked a little resistant still but the sour look luckily left her features. She looked at the horses and their respective riders before she looked back at me.

«Πρεπει να ιππευουμε μ' αυτους? Δεν περπαταμε καλυτερα?» (Do we have to ride with them? Can we not walk instead?) Ramini asked.

«Δεν πιστευω οτι θα ηταν σοφη επιλογη...» (I do not believe that would be wise…) I answered in a calm and slightly somber tone. I was not a huge fan of having to ride on the back of a horse with someone when I preferred to ride my own separately. But we were in no position to complain or try to bargain our way to our own steeds. Ramini did not argue after that and simply nodded. Her eyes roamed over the choices again when a slightly mischievous light shinned in her eyes as she walked to Valdon. I felt a small smile grace my lips and felt a small amount of pity for the Elf. Ramini seemed to officially declare him a target in her mind.

I considered riding with Eowyn but I felt uncomfortable doing so when her husband seemed to always be in close proximity to her at all times. He must have been wary of Ramini and I; but I did not feel any ill will towards him for that. I would be wary as well if our situation was reversed. I walked over to Legolas and he gave me a kind smile before offering to help me onto the horse. Rather than in need of help I accepted his offer out of respect towards the gesture. I climbed on the back of the horse behind him and held onto his shoulders. One glance at Ramini and I saw that she looked like she may have been slightly regretting choosing Valdon as her riding partner when she realized she would be forced to hold onto him. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from smiling at the sight.

We traveled for most of the day with a couple rest stops for the horses to drink and eat after being pushed hard by the traveling. On one of those stops I watched as the guards walked around the perimeter of the improvised rest area. Valdon was talking with Legolas with an annoyed expression. At one point his horse hit a rough spot and he grabbed onto Ramini to ensure she would not fall off. She was startled by the sudden contact and bit his shoulder. It was decided that Ramini and I would switch our riding partners after the incident. I attempted to give Ramini a scolding look but I was far too amused to do so. Besides; she seemed much too interested in the sparring match taking place.

Eowyn and Faramir had decided to have a practice session while the horses were taking a break from the traveling. It was a fascinating sight to see the young blonde hold her own against her husband. I was under no illusion that women could not fight but it was not something that was commonly practiced even in my Kingdom. Ramini was a special case; she was taken under the wing of a well-respected mentor who saw potential in her. As for myself my father and mother had thought it wise for me to learn to defend myself should a situation ever arise. Then there was the war… I shook my head and tried to refocus on the situation at hand. I watched as Ramini buzzed with desire to fight as well. She prided herself on her ability but not to arrogance. It was one of the lovely characteristics she had; she was always open for ways to improve. I took a sip of water as the duel between the married couple ended; Eowyn had won. Ramini had smiled at her, obviously the blonde had gained respect from the head guard and then we set out again.

The sun was setting when we arrived to the gates of a stunningly beautiful white city. The walls were high and from the outside it seemed that it spiraled upwards to the heavens. It was a truly breath taking sight. Even Ramini seemed to be ensnared by its beauty and sense of power. The gates opened at the sight of our company and we were allowed into the white city. There were many things that caught my eye as we went deeper and deeper into the city. The people walked calmly around the streets while avoiding being in our way. A few eyes strayed to the handsome elves and the Lord and Lady of Emyn Arnen. A few curious stares were cast towards Ramini and I as we passed them. As we approached what I assumed was a palace within the city a woman and beautiful woman came out of the main doors. I felt my breath hitch slightly; never before had I seen someone as beautiful as the woman in front of us now. Her skin was pale and almost glowed, dark hair fell down her back in soft waves. Her eyes were blue and looked as if she had seen centuries and yet retained a spark.

«Όμορφη...» (Beautiful…) Ramini let out a breathless sigh as she spoke. I couldn't help but feel the same way. This woman was beyond anything I had ever seen. I wondered if she had been blessed or perhaps the daughter of Aphrodite.

«Μοιαζει σαν να ειναι ευλογημενη απο την ιδια τη θεα Αφροδιτη...» (She looks as if she was blessed by the Goddess Aphrodite herself…) I mumbled. Then I noticed the circlet on top of her head and the crown on the man. A king and Queen of these lands it would seem. I noticed that Legolas, Valdon, Faramir, and Eowyn all slid off the horses and Ramini and I followed suit. The four and two guards bowed in respect. I felt Ramini tense beside me; most likely uncomfortable with the thought of bowing to strangers. I gently placed a hand on her forearm. With a quick glance to me and bit her lip then bowed. I did the same to show respect to the rulers of the land. After bowing I straightened my posture; all the years of meeting with other royals kicking in. I held myself with as much of a strong and confident air as I could manage. The Queen gave us a gentle smile.

"Welcome to Minas Tirith, the City of Kings."

**Note:**

**And there you have it; Selene has met Aragorn and Arwen. So I'm curious; who do you like more Ramini or Selene? And are you interested in seeing Ramini fight at some point? Please leave your comments in a review or PM me. As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please Favorite, Review, or Follow.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Note**

**Here is the 18****th**** chapter of Ithil! Yay. Um, some things to know before you start the chapter: ellon is the word for a male elf, elleth is the word for female elf, and Ada is the word for father. That's all that is really needed to be known before hand for this chapter. As always I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

Chapter 18 – The White City

_Third Person Limited - Legolas' POV_

He had watched as Selene and Ramini met Arwen and Aragorn. He hadn't entirely been able to understand what Selene had said; although he did know she agreed when Ramini had called the Queen of Gondor beautiful but he didn't know whom this Aphrodite was that had been mentioned. Regardless he gracefully slid off of the horse and turned to offer to help Ramini off, but he noticed as she had already gotten down on her own. He didn't spend another second looking to the young human woman and turned to his longtime friend and bowed to him and his Queen along with the rest of the company. Aragorn then preceded to welcome them to Gondor. With a smile the blonde Elf greeted Aragorn.

"Suilad, mellon nín." (Greetings, my friend.) Legolas greeted, Aragorn smiled at his friend and lightly placed a hand on his shoulder. A friendly gesture as Arwen went to Eoywn, Selene, and Ramini. Un-doubtfully curious about how the Lady of Emyn Arnen had been in the past few weeks since they had last seen one another. She also seemed rather curious about Selene and Ramini as well and it seemed that they had felt the same way towards her.

"Mae govannen." (Well met.) Aragorn responded; pulling the ellon's attention back to him.

"Manen athradannech?" (How was your travel?) Aragorn asked Legolas as Valdon walked over. Faramir stayed beside his wife and spoke with Arwen about Selene coming to them by Legolas but that his rangers had found Ramini injured and in bad company.

"La Prestal." (We had no trouble.) Valdon spoke up from Legolas' side. Aragorn nodded in response. Seeming relieved that they had not run into trouble. The Orcs did not have leaders anymore but they still attacked unsuspecting travels and in the past few weeks there had been reports of people being attacked by a group of strange men.

"Im gelir ye." (I'm happy to hear that.) Aragorn responded. Then his wife approached him with Eoywn, Selene, Ramini, and Faramir in tow. A concerned look on her face as she spoke to him quietly. He shared a worried look but then schooled his features into a calm façade.

"We cannot say that we have come across women looking like Selene and Ramini do. But perhaps it would be better to stay for a while until we can be sure that no one recognizes them from somewhere. You all of course are welcome to our home as well." Legolas hesitated; he may be getting a response from his father soon. It would likely go to Ithilien and then they would likely have to wait there for him unless the messenger felt it necessary to track him down to Gondor. It would be at least a two day journey on horseback if they did not camp for the night, three to four if they did. Then, as if sensing that he was about to decline, Arwen spoke up.

"Nor have I come across a language like theirs in all my years. You had stated before in your letter that you did not either." Arwen said softly. Then continued; "Did you receive word from your father at all?" Legolas gave a slight frown and shook his head.

"Afraid not. That is actually part of the reason I was considering returning home to Ithilien. I can wait for the letter to come from my father and then come back here to discuss what was discovered." Arwen frowned slightly; knowing that the two may not react well if they were left alone with strangers.

"If that is what you feel is best. We will insist that you at the least stay the night and rest then join us for dinner and you may leave in the morning." Aragorn said and Legolas nodded.

"I thank you for your hospitality."

"Baren bar lin." (My home is your home.) Aragorn responded in Elvish. He gained a small smile from Legolas and from Valdon before they both nodded and responded in the same fashion.

"Le hannon." (I thank you.) It was then that Legolas glanced to the two women. Ramini looked confused, and from what he could tell annoyed as well. If the ellon had to guess what was troubling her he would assume that Ramini was upset because she couldn't understand a word of what was being said. He could understand her frustration from the time when he first met Selene. Then when he looked to the blonde woman he had grown to know he saw a mix of confusion and a hint of sadness in her eyes. He wondered if she gathered that he would be returning to his colony. He looked to his trusted friend and fellow guard Valdon.

"Valdon, you will be staying here." Legolas said; leaving little room for argument on the matter. The statement seemed to surprise not only his friend but the others who could understand what was going on at the moment.

"Man?" (What?) Valdon asked in Elvish; attempting to have this conversation in a more private manner. The only other ones able to understand the conversation would have been Aragorn and Arwen. The fair haired elf didn't partake in the change of language. He wanted everyone to understand not only what was happening but why.

"You are the only other one who has the slightest bit of an idea of how to communicate with Selene and Ramini in their own language." When Legolas had said this he noticed that he had gathered the full attention of Ramini too at this point. If he had to guess he would say it was because she had heard him address her in the conversation.

"But you have more experience in the language than I do. I could return to Ithilien and let you know of news of the letter." Valdon argued.

"It was a letter that I sent out to my father and I shall be the one to receive it. It is what he would expect of me. And if it is experience you are concerned about we will spend tonight sharpening your skills. You don't need to be able to have a fluent conversation; merely to speak to them should they need your help or if you need to inform them of some sort of event or change of plans." Legolas said. Valdon clenched his jaw but bit back a retort.

"As you wish." Valdon gave up on fighting it. Legolas gave his friend an apologetic smile.

"Well, if it is decided then let us show you where you will be staying." Arwen spoke up from beside Aragorn. Legolas nodded and they all followed the Queen and King into the castle. Lady Arwen showed them rooms all in the same hallway. She insisted that everyone, besides Lady Eoywn and Lord Faramir, get their own rooms. Selene and Ramini had rooms side by side. Then Legolas, Valdon, and Eoywn and Faramir had rooms across the hall from them. Legolas got straight to teaching Valdon what he understood about Selene's and Ramini's language until dinner.

"Their grammar seems rather complicated." Valdon commented.

"Yes, it's rather hard to grasp at first." Legolas agreed.

* * *

><p><em>Change of POV – First Person – Ramini<em>

I stuck close to Selene. I hadn't been able to catch a whole lot of what was being said. The language itself wasn't entirely difficult when you learned what the sounds were. But trying to keep up with everyone speaking was rather hard when they tended to speak quickly. It wasn't just that either; there was trying to fill in the blanks when there were words I didn't know. It was beginning to make my head hurt. The only thing I had gathered from the conversation between the two feminine looking men was: staying, language, Selene and Ramini, and letter. I gave a frustrated sigh and blew some stray hair out of my face. I reached around and tugged the curls together and off to the side. I sat cross legged on my bed and began braiding the curls together in a neat braid.

I hated sitting here doing nothing. My Queen may have thought that it was wise to stick by these people for the time being but I was not so sure. What if they were the ones who sent those Pirates after her in the first place? Or if money could corrupt them into giving us over to those pathetic sailors. No… I did not like this one bit. I wanted to escape this land. To get away from the people here and back home where we belonged. I finished the braid and it fell limply over my shoulder and I jumped off the bed and headed to the room next to mine. I knocked on the door until I heard Selene call to me from inside the room. I quietly opened the door and shut it behind me. She was sitting at a vanity brushing through her blonde locks and I walked up behind her. Her eyes glanced up to me and I gave her a slightly strained smile.

«Ειναι το δωματιο σου ενταξει?» (Is your room suitable?) She asked me as she brushed her hair off to the side but did not braid it. Honestly I felt like it was because she didn't know how.

«Μια χαρα ειναι.» (It is fine.) I answered as I walked over to her. She gave me a slight frown and stared me down from the mirror. She turned in the chair and looked at me dead in the eye. Her grey orbs searched mine and she looked at me with disbelief.

«Αλλα κατι σε ενοχλει...» (But there is something troubling you…) She questioned, but it sounded more like a statement. She knew that I was not exactly pleased with our situation. I did not trust these people and she was just waiting for me to admit it out loud. So I spoke my mind.

«Δ-Δεν ξερω γιατι ειμαστε εδω. Βασιλισσα μου-» (I… I don't know why we are here. My Queen-)

«Ξερεις οτι μπορεις να με αποκαλεις με το ονομα μου.» (My friend, you know you are welcome to call me by my name.) Selene interrupted. I gave her a slight smile.

«Σεληνη, δεν θα επρεπε να ειμαστε εδω. Δεν τους ξερουμε αυτους! Κι αν δουλευουν με τους πειρατες? Μπορει να βρισκεσαι σε κινδυνο.» (Selene. We should not be here. We do not know these people and what if they are in league with those Pirates. You could be in danger.)

«Αν ειναι ετσι, δεν βρισκομαι μονο εγω σε κινδυνο.» (If that were the case then you too would be in trouble.) She argued.

«Δεν ανησυχω για τον εαυτο μου.» (It is not me I worry for.) I responded.

«Το ξερω, Ραμινι. Αλλα θα ηταν αδαες να φυγουμε. Δεν εχουμε πουθενα να παμε και δεν ξερουμε καν που βρισκομαστε. Δεν ειμαστε στα εδαφη του αδερφου του πατερα μου. Δε θα μπορουσαμε να επιβιωσουμε.» (I know you don't Ramini. But it would be unwise to leave. We have nowhere to turn nor do we even know where we are. We are not in the lands of my father's brother. We would not survive.) I frowned at her reasoning. Did she doubt me? I felt insulted by her assumption that we would die. I knew how to use the land; my mentor had ensured that when we began my training.

«Ξερω να κυνηγω. Μπορω να επιβιωσω στην αγρια φυση. Θα σε προστατευσω.» (I can hunt. You know I am capable of surviving in the wild. I can protect you.) I argued. She gave me a gentle and patient smile as she stood up from the chair and placed a hand on my shoulder. Probably trying to calm me or at the very least trying to make me understand from her point of view. I fought the urge to shrug off her hand and stared her in the eye. Trying to persuade her to listen to me on this one.

«Το ξερω, αλλα η γλωσσα? Εγω ισα που μπορω να την καταλαβω και να μιλησω και εσυ ισα που ξερεις να λες 'γεια' και 'αντιο'.» (I know you can my friend, but what of the language? I am just now starting to grasp it and you cannot say anything beyond "hello" or "goodbye".) Selene said and I frowned; knowing she was right about the language. I looked down but she didn't miss the look of displeasure on my face, or the annoyance I had for not being able to understand much of what was going on and being said by the people here. She sighed and I looked back at her. She shook her head and then looked at me; ready to compromise.

«Ξερω οτι ανησυχεις, αλλα προς το παρον αυτη ειναι η καλυτερη επιλογη. Αν υποπτευθουμε οτι συνεργαζονται με τους πειρατες, θα φυγουμε με την πρωτη ευκαιρια. Αν, ομως, δεν εχουν ετσι τα πραγματα, ισως να ειναι η μοναδικη μας ευκαιρια να γυρισουμε πισω. » (I know you are concerned. But for now this is the best option. If we begin to suspect that they are working with the enemy then we will leave as soon as an opportunity presents itself. But if they are not then they may be our chance to return to our home.) I still wanted to argue. To continue to try and persuade her that it may not be safe enough to stay here but I knew she wasn't going to budge. I had known her for many years and she was known for being stubborn. I could be stubborn too; heck it had gotten me this far. But she shot me a pleading look and I groaned slightly.

«Καταλαβαινω.» (I understand.) I answered half-heartedly. I would rather not be here but I was not about to abandon my Queen in a strange place. No… Queen doesn't really even represent what she is to me. She is my Queen but more than that she is a dear and treasured friend. I felt myself get pulled towards her and she gave me a hug which I returned. I smiled at her and told her to sit back down as I brushed through her hair and started to braid it down her back. She gave me a slight frown but from the waves in her hair I could tell she probably already had tried to do so on her own. I shook my head and snickered slightly. The great Queen, sole ruler of our land and an excellent fighter, could not braid her own hair properly. _Royals…_

* * *

><p><em>Change of POV – Third Person – Arwen<em>

The night before had been rather silent at the dinner table. Valdon kept his face emotionless but it could be felt by the elleth that he was very unhappy to be left behind. She assumed it wasn't so much that he disliked Ramini and Selene as much as he didn't feel comfortable allowing his lord to travel alone. Ramini had seemed very uncomfortable around all of them. She was guarded in the sense of keeping an eye on everyone rather than masking her emotions. It was clear to see that she was annoyed and unhappy to be there. The Queen of Gondor let out a light sigh as she thought of the night before. It was this morning they were wishing Legolas a safe journey home to Ithilien. Arwen had noticed the slightly disappointed look that Selene had upon seeing that the Woodland Prince was leaving and wondered if she had grown fond of the ellon. They had all seen him off and once he was out of sight they all returned into the secure walls of Gondor. Arwen walked gracefully over to the two strange women and gave them a kind and gentle smile.

"Hello. I have not formally introduced myself to you two." Arwen started and looked at them; Selene seemed to grasp enough of what she said in order to look at her with some understanding. Ramini looked a little lost still but regardless had given the elf her attention.

"I am Arwen. It is a pleasure to meet the both of you." Arwen spoke softly and Selene offered her a small smile.

"It… Nice to meet you. I am Selene, and this Ramini." Selene spoke well enough to understand her but her speech was still somewhat broken. Arwen did not let it phase her and she smiled a bit wider.

"I hope the three of us can grow to be friends." Arwen smiled at the two of them and surprisingly Ramini and Selene both returned the smile. There had always been a calming and friendly aura around the Queen and it seemed as if it had even effected the most stubborn of people.

"I…" Selene started and then glanced at her friend and whispered something to her. The dark haired beauty gave a reluctant nod and Selene's face seemed to brighten slightly as she smiled.

"We would like that." Selene then followed the Queen into the white castle and the two spoke, or tried to. It was the next few days that Arwen spent time with Ramini, Selene, and Eoywn as the four ladies spent time trying to teach the two foreigners more common tongue. It was on the second day that Arwen had made a new discovery about Ramini in particular. It started out in the court yard as she was looking through different types of swords. She seemed to favor the elven made ones; for they were lighter and better balanced than most of the manmade ones. A few of the guards had been watching her with amusement. It seemed that many of them still believed that it was not a woman's place to hold such weapons. Arwen had heard them making comments about a "woman's place" and had to bite her tongue from lashing out at them for the disrespect. Selene even looked rather unpleased to hear what was being said and it did not take long for Ramini to notice the change in atmosphere.

«Γιατι δειχνει τοσο φαντασμενος?» (Why does he look so smug?) Ramini asked as she looked to the guards. She had a frown on her face when she saw the objectifying looks they had been sending their way. She was gently handling duel swords; treating the weapons with great care and respect. Arwen did not know what Ramini and Selene were saying to one another but it seemed like Selene was reluctant to tell her friend what she had heard.

«Μην εισαι βιαστικη.» (Don't be rash.) Selene responded.

«Τι? Τι ειπε?» (What? What did he say?) Ramini sounded faintly confused and she looked to the blonde haired human with a frown and curious eyes.

«Ει-Ειπε οτι οι γυναικες δεν ανηκουν στη φρουρα.» (He… He said that women do not belong in the guard.) Selene answered warily. Arwen was about to ask them what they were talking about but never got the chance for Ramini exploded with anger and annoyance at that moment. Her eyes seemed to hold a fire in her brown orbs as she suddenly got very loud.

«Χα! Τοσα ξερει, τοσα λεει.» (Huh! Show's what he knows!) Ramini snorted and glared in the direction of the guards.

«Ραμινι, σε παρακαλω, ηρεμησε-» (Ramini, please, calm yourself-) Selene tried to calm her friend's temper but it did not work. Ramini shrugged her off and started to march towards the guards who were now watching her with curiosity.

«Θα του δειξω εγω ποιος δεν ανηκει στη φρουρα!» (I'll show him who doesn't belong in the guard!) Ramini said angrily and Selene quickly followed after her while Arwen stayed behind watching them curiously. She had been informed that she had quite the temper but she hadn't been expecting it to go off so quickly.

«Δεν ξερουν αλλιως.» (They do not know better.)

«Τοτε ηρθε η ωρα να τους δωσω κανα μαθημα!» (Then it is time I educate them.) Ramini said and Selene went quiet as she stood beside her friend as she was now less than a foot from the guard who had been the one to start talking about how women did not belong in the guard. Ramini glared up at him as he was a head taller than her.

"Is there something you need, woman?" He asked and Selene sighed.

"She wish…" Selene started.

"I challenge you." Ramini bluntly cut off the blonde woman and the guard snorted.

"Ma'am, I assure you that you do not wish to do something such as that. Now, run along back to your chores." Arwen felt anger built up in herself at those words but it did not show on her face as she stayed in place. Ramini glanced at Selene who whispered to her. The fire within Ramini's eyes grew and with a serious tone she repeated herself.

"I challenge you." The guard sighed and few of the other men encouraged him to humor her. Arwen watched as he took out his sword and Ramini followed him to a clearing where they could spar easier. Arwen noticed that there was a deadly calm as Ramini had a secure hold on the dueling swords. Selene stayed a few paces behind them and watched Ramini with a worried look. Arwen had thought it may be concern for her friend's safety but as she studied the look on Selene's face she came to realize that it was more concern for the guard than Ramini. It was right then that Arwen realized she was about to witness something great. The dark haired elleth walked over to Selene and took a seat on a bench next to the blonde and watched as Ramini and the guard stood a good few feet from each other.

"I will go easy on you." The guard warned and Ramini didn't respond; she merely readied herself. Ramini made the first move. The woman was fast and light on her feet and she rushed the guard the moment the fight started. She blocked and parried his sword with her two blades moving as one. It didn't last long before Ramini hit close to the hilt of his sword with enough force to knock the sword from the surprised man. She brought one of the blades in front of his neck pointing towards his chin and the second behind his neck horizontally to keep him trapped. He froze and she removed the blades from his personal space and took a step back.

"Hard?" She questioned and he glared at her. She tosses one of the blades on the ground away from the two of them; which Selene quickly picked it off the ground before someone accidently landed on it or injured themselves. She too held it with care and sat back down.

"Want easier?" Ramini asked. The guard's glare deepened.

"Let's go again." The guard said and readied himself; looking more serious. When the match started he took the first shot. His sword trusted forward and she quickly parried left and trust her sword forward to drag across his stomach horizontally. The guard moved back quickly to avoid the blade and Ramini quickly moved forward. She swung at him again and again purposely pushing him backwards. She went for a shoulder blow but he quickly parried right and then tried to thrust the sword to her stomach. Ramini quickly angled the sword down and caught the edge of his sword on her edge. The guard and moved back and Ramini followed suit. Her blade was shorter than his but she made up for it with her speed and the obvious experience she had. As Arwen watched she noticed that unlike many daughters of Man Ramini was well trained. She certainly had an impulsive way to her but when it came to actually sword fighting she had a certain amount of patience and awareness. She was careful not to leave too many openings for her enemy but at the same time she was not afraid to take a risk to get an upper hand.

Arwen's theory was proven to be correct when she saw Ramini take a risk by thrusting her elbow out into the guard's unarmored chest to force him off balance. He had not been expecting the sudden change in attack and she hit him with enough force to shove him back and then bring her sword out from the side and slash towards him. She stopped the blade as it was angled to slash in a diagonal down his side. It looked as if the fight was about to escalate and Arwen chose that time to intervene. She stood up and gave a light clap; gaining the attention of both the guard and Ramini.

"That was very impressive." Arwen spoke up and Selene got up and followed her to Ramini and the guard. The fair haired woman took the second dueling sword from her friend. The guard bowed his head to Arwen and she gave him a gentle smile.

"Perhaps you will think again before you assume that women cannot fight. But we have business to attend to. I suggest you get back to your post or return to your home to rest." Arwen advised and walked to Ramini and Selene as the blonde coaxed her friend into leaving the guard be. When the elleth looked Ramini she saw more than just the fire that seemed to cool down; there was a sense of life and pride as well.

_Change of POV – Third Person – Legolas_

It took three days to return to Ithilien because he had to stop and camp for the night in order to give Arod a break for the night. He remembered when he first received his horse in the War of the Ring many years ago. He petted the horse's snout and lightly sung to him before letting him graze. While the war has long sense passed the Elven Prince found himself thinking of it. He thought of his Dwarven friend and thought that perhaps he should write Gimli soon. He felt himself doubt it slightly but it was possible that if his Ada (father) and Aragron did not know anything of Selene's origin then perhaps the Dwarves might. The night passed rather quickly but Legolas did not sleep. He was more than capable of staying awake for days on end and with all that has been happening recently he would not trust to sleep without someone accompanying him. When the first light of sun fell to the Earth he got back on Arod and continued his journey home. He rode with Arod all day; stopping a few times to allow his horse the break he needed to continue on. They never stopped to camp like they had before; only resting every few hours and by midday of the third day since departing from Gondor he found himself in the familiar forest of his colony. As he rode closer he noticed some of the elleth and ellon in the guard patrolling the boarders of their new home and was greeted by a pleasant and yet surprising sight. Walking along the guards was a face he had not seen since he left his father's realm many years ago.

"Mellimeldisiel?" Legolas addressed his longtime friend. The elleth smiled and approached the Prince. Her black hair hung down passed her shoulders in waves as she was dressed in shades of green and brown. She had a brown leather bag hanging at her waist and another bag containing her arrows was slung over her shoulder and she held her bow.

"Gi suilon." (I greet you.) She smiled at her friend and Legolas could not help but return the smile.

"Le nathlon mellon nin." (I welcome you my friend.) Legolas greeted his friend and placed a hand on her shoulder. Mellimeldisiel simply smirked to her friend before speaking again.

"Le abdollen." (You're late.) She accused half-heartedly.

"Goheno nin." (Forgive me.)

"Ú-moe edaved." (It is not necessary to forgive.) Mellimeldisiel lightly patted his shoulder as they walked back towards the colony.

"I trust you bring word from my Ada?" Legolas questioned. The elleth nodded as she pulled a neatly folded letter from her bag and handed it to the Prince as they neared his home.

"I did and he insists that you return to Eryn Lasgalen. There is much he would like to discuss with you Legolas."

**Note: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'm working on trying to make them longer so that there is more to read to hold you over until the next update. However, I have a question for all my reviewers: for my next chapter should I time skip to about a month after the events in this chapter? You would still get to see the characters developing and whatnot but the Common Tongue they use will not be broken much anymore. Obviously they will still be learning other things but it will skip over most of the learning process with Ramini and Selene. Or would you rather me continue doing this little by little and you getting to see that struggle? Please leave your answers in a review or PM me.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Note:**

**Alright, sorry for the wait guys I was swamped with school work and looking for employment! Anyways here is chapter 19 and unfortunately Selene and Ramini will not be making an appearance, they might next chapter. **

**Something to know: while I know elves would speak to each other in strictly elven I'm doing a bit of both because it's hard to do full conversations in elven (mostly 'cause I don't know it well enough to write it as I go). Yes in Elvish is "no" so whenever I say yes in Elvish I will put it next to no like this: No (Yes) so if the (yes) isn't there then it's literally "no".**

Chapter 19 – The Past

Third Person POV

A young man sat in the library as his eyes poured over a leather journal sitting on the wooden table before him. His dark hair framed his face but didn't go more than two inches down his tanned neck. He was rather interesting to observe; his complexion, accent, and short dark hair set him apart of the elven kin around him. The man was obvious of the Race of Men but his eyes held many years of knowledge, pain, love, and other emotions only granted in time. He came from a distant land, from over the seas and made little contact with others. There were a select few he spoke to often as he learned their customs and language. If he was less trained he would have missed the light footsteps making their way to the table. He turned his green orbs from the book and to the Elf who was approaching him.

The human rose from his seat and bowed in respect to the Elven King. His arm was crossed over his chest as he bent his upper body as well as letting his head fall a bit as well; he knew fully well how one should address a royal.

"Le suilon." (I greet you.) The young man said politely as well as formerly. While he had a certain air of humor and ease around him, but he certainly was not disrespectful. Especially in the presence of a kind Royal. The blonde haired elf gave a very slight smile; but his face remained rather serious and composed as the smile faded back into a look of indifference. Something that all elves tended to do, he noted.

"Mae l'ovannen." (Well met.) Thranduil responded in an equally formal way before he switched into common tongue.

"I see that you have returned to your studies."

"Nai (yes), I wish to not only learn the languages but record them as well. There are many back in my homeland whom would be fascinated to learn it."

"You speak of your home fondly, would you rather not stay?"

"I cannot. I have someone waiting for me, and I could not disappoint μικρη θεα (Little Goddess)."

"She is dear to you?"

"Very much so." Then there was silence. The King could not say that he was fond of the human nor that they had grown very close in the few months he had spent in his Realm. But there was something peculiar about the man, he had many characteristics of an Elf and yet he was not even half of one. He showed far more grace and beauty than a normal human and has lived longer than even that of the Dúnedain could hope to achieve. He claims that he is not the only one of his kind, but one of the few who had achieved immortality. It was a rather fascinating concept; the race of man gaining immortality.

"Very well. There is a feast being held for your departing of these lands." Thranduil said and the young man had smiled.

"I thank you, your Royal Highness. But if you are to throw such an event then I cannot say that we are not friends by now." The man smirked faintly and Thranduil did not grace his comment with a response. He merely turned and began walking away as the dark haired man followed behind the King.

"Come on, you know I am right."

"When did you lose your ability to speak formally to a King?"

"When the King became a friend."

"Friend?"

«Nai..» (Yes.)

"I don't recall making such a claim."

"You did not deny it either." The man argued, a teasing smile on his face but the King did not look back at him nor respond. He felt he may have started to get on the king's nerves and chuckled silently to himself. The man knew that Tranduil could be rather serious most of the time but he was a good and fair man for the most part. Besides, the man felt like this sort of teasing wasn't enough to truly get on the King's bad side. He fell into step next the King and looked up at the ceiling of branches that had been included in the architecture of this palace. He did not glance at the King when he spoke again, a kind smile still on his face and his eyes sparkled slightly with good natured humor and a sense of carelessness.

"You know, you are welcome to address me by my name now."

"Iston, Kethean." (I know, Kethean.) The young man raised his eyebrow faintly.

"Did you give me a new name?"

Thranduil blinked away the distant memory. It did not seem so long ago that he had taken in the strange man but he knew decades must have passed since then. When his son had sent him that letter about the foreigner with the strange language Thranduil recognized it as the very same that Aither had been writing translations for so long ago. He immediately dismissed the thought of Aither being the one to have returned; the man would have made a visit to Woodland Realm had that been the case. As he had read on Legolas had clarified that it was a woman who had shown up and that furthered his idea that it had to have been someone else.

"Hîr vuin Thranduil, Ionnen sí." (My lord Thranduil, your son is here.) One of the guards informed him as he entered the throne room where the King sat upon his throne. Thranduil stood up from his chair and gave a curt nod to the guard. The Elf gave a bow before he quickly left the room and was replaced by Legolas himself. It had been many months since Thranduil had last seen his son, although it had not been as bad as when Legolas left the Woodland Realm to follow after the red haired elleth, or when he traveled with Aragorn for many years and then fought in the War of the Ring.

"Adar." (Father.) Legolas greeted and Thranduil walked down the steps from his throne to his son who stood below.

"Ionneg." (My son.) Thranduil addressed Legolas. His face remained stoic despite that fact that deep inside the King of the Woodland Realm was pleased to see his son again. He often was seen as a cold hearted King but in truth he cared very deeply for his son and subjects, but ever since his wife died long ago he found it hard to express those emotions on the outside.

"You sent for me." Legolas spoke boldly.

"Indeed. I was rather surprised when I received your letter. I was rather surprised that you did not recognize the language yourself, Ionneg." Legolas' brow furrowed in slight confusion and the King sighed. He supposed that his son was rather distracted during the time that they had housed Aither in their kingdom. Regardless he was disappointed that his son did not pay enough attention to the man to have noticed that the letter he sent with the language was the same as the one that they had been trying to understand decades again.

"It seems you only pay attention when a woman is involved." Thranduil accused with a slightly annoyed tone. It was around the time that Aither appeared that Legolas began to take interest in Tariel and now he only pays attention to the language when it is a woman speaking it. He missed the days that his son was appalled by the thought of women and cared more for learning.

"Adar!" (Father!) The affronted expression on Legolas' face _almost_ caused a small smile to form on his face but he kept his features schooled into a look of indifference he was famous for.

"It is not for _that_ reason. I assure you. I am curious about the language, I don't recall seeing it before." Legolas seemed to be rather embarrassed, likely from the accusation from his father.

"That is because you were too concerned with trying to win the affections of an elleth to notice that the language was come to our Kingdom once before." Legolas frowned, it was a tired looking grimace. The King had his conversation with his son many times before; what extents he went to in the past chasing the heart of an elleth who was not only bad for him but also unattainable.

"Adar… We have spoken of this before, I do not wish to travel down that road again. If you have not called me here to discuss what you know of the language then I do not have time to spend here with you discussing what happened in the past. I had begun to learn and study the language from the women who speak it."

"Women? There are more than one now?" That little bit of information caught the King's attention. In the letter Legolas had only mentioned one.

"Yes. Adar, I believe there is more to this situation than what meets the eye. Another woman showed up in Emyn Arnen, she was injured but she shared characteristics with the woman from before including a cultural mark on her head as well as speaking the same language. I feel that this is a more serious situation than we had originally thought."

"How so?" Thranduil asked.

"Lady Eoywn and I came to a similar conclusion that she was not some peasant. She was far too well-mannered not to mention well-dressed when we found her. She had what appeared to be pure gold jewelry on her but she does not appear to be a thief or anything of the sort." Legolas had begun to explain.

"Is that your only reasoning?" Thranduil asked, a bit skeptical.

"No. When the other woman was found she reacted strangely. In not only a fiercely protective way but also highly respectful. She was reported beating and killing a man who held her captive with a rock. Yet… In the presence of this woman, Selene, she seemed to be more respectful and… They knew each other on a personal level. She kept apologizing too." Legolas admitted.

"Apologizing?"

"Yes. I was unable to catch most of what was being said. But the injured woman, called Ramini, kept saying she was sorry and that _it was her fault_. But I do not know what she apologized for. She also called Selene by what I can only assume is a title of sorts but I don't know what it meant." Legolas explained.

"But you do not know what the title meant. It could have been Lady, Sister, Aunt, or Friend for all we know. You cannot make such an assumption when there is little evidence to confirm your belief."

"Adar (father), it is not just that she called her by an unknown title. It was more than that… The way she reacted to Selene,"

"Selene, is that the daughter of man's name?"

"No (yes), but Adar, you didn't see it. The way that she reacted was a high level of respect and loyalty. It reminded me of how one might address a general, a noble, or someone of royalty." The King did not dismiss his son's idea right away, well not out loud anyways.

"Ionneg, you cannot jump to wild conclusions. You are learning to speak with her are you not?"

"No." (Yes) Legolas responded in their language.

"Has she learned to speak common, or is she not yet able to do so?" Thranduil asked, his son nodded in respond.

"She is not as fluent but she has been practicing and getting better every day. I have Valdon keeping an eye on both Selene and her friend Ramini."

"Then perhaps instead of speculating whether or not she holds power where she was from you should ask her." Thranduil started, he walked past his son and gazed into the stream that ran through the room of his throne room.

"But she may not be completely honest with you. If she was taken here by force then she may not trust you enough to truly reveal herself should she be a woman of power. She may lie and say she is not, or she may be honest and say she is or is not. I recommend you gain her trust more. But that is not what we are here to discuss. You came asking about the language and I have much to tell you about it." Thranduil walked out of the throne room with his son following not far behind him. They based servants doing their chores, they all stopped and bowed as the King and Prince walked passed them before returning to their duties. Thranduil stopped once they reached their destination, a private study of his own.

"There was a man, one who came here long ago. When darkness was invading our home, when our old enemy was returning. The war had not yet begun and you were still part of the guard with Tariel. He came with a company of twenty men, most of them ill and unmistakingly sons of man. But the one young man, he was not like the others. He was different, stronger, intelligent, and most of all immortal." Thranduil spoke and noticed his son's brow furrow slightly in confusion.

"An immortal son of man? I have heard of those who can live for hundreds of years, but none are immortal. Why had I not heard of this before?" Legolas spoke, his interest in the subject growing.

"He did not wish for many to know. I was one of the only few to know of it here. But that is not what I brought you here to speak about. The man wrote a journal of his language being translated, he claimed that others would want to learn and he would give them an opportunity. He didn't finish it but he wrote enough for him to be satisfied. The night we threw a feast to see him off in the morning I had one of my servants copy down a few pages. However the feast ended early when they received word of a war brewing in their land. He and his men left with haste. We thought that the chance to finish copying the journal was lost." Thranduil continued, his son listened intently before guessing the next part.

"He left the journal, and his name? What was it?" Legolas asked, but he already had a feeling that he knew the answer.

"He called himself Aither, I used to call him Kethean." Legolas stopped a little; he had a feeling it as the story was continuing that it had to be. He remembered Selene sobbing and calling out to the same name. But the book wasn't in his father's study, it was in the books that Legolas received from Gandalf.

"How did Gandalf end up with the journal?"

"I gave it to him, he wished to have it and in exchange I received gems of starlight. While we did not have the journal we still had what my servant, Saethar, had written down. Although it is not much, it may become useful should you need it." Thranduil said as he took a book off of the shelf and handed it to his son.

"I trust you will use it well."

**Note: **

**So I just realized that I forgot to reply to you, Yarnandahalfspin. Sorry I'm use to using the pm system now and I forgot to reply to you in the chapter since you're a guest. So here's to chapter 17.**

**Yarnandahalfspin, I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying the story and the elements I've put into it. I have to say that I like Ramini as well; but there are certain points I like about Selene. But Ramini is in fact my favorite.**

**Also for all of those who are curious: Aither's elven name is Kethean and it means "wind rider".**


	20. Chapter 20

**Note:**

**Alright so it has been awhile since the last update, and I hope those of you still reading will enjoy this chapter. I don't have a lot to say honestly, I do want to thank Shorty McGee for helping edit this chapter as well as previous ones. And of course Georgiadaskalakix for helping translate the Greek parts of the story.**

**I can't promise to update more, I'm hoping that with my break I will be able to update my stories, after this one Cerulean sort of takes priority. However I have been rather busy lately and so I can't promise anything. Regardless I do hope that you all enjoy this chapter.**

Chapter 20 – Decisions

Gondor – Selene's POV – Third Person

She brushed her blonde hair off over her left shoulder. Finally managing to untangle it after the events of the day prior to now. Ramini was resting in her bed, her shoulder and chest wrapped in bandages, the light red stains proving that it may be time to redress her wound. There was a thin fabric draped over her shoulders so that her back was covered but she could wrap it around her torso too. Her guard had been less than willing to accept the strange healing powers from the Queen. The people that she had bested in the fight seemed less than frilled to have been beaten by a woman, a foreign one at that. A few days later they had ambushed Ramini while she was alone in the gardens. Luckily she was not too injured from the attack; Ramini managed to fend for herself until she was stabbed in the shoulder. It was then when an unlikely bystander intervened, as it turned out Valdon, Legolas' friend, had been in the area and came across the scene. He managed to knock down a few of the cowards and got Ramini the assistance she needed. Selene had been in a panic when she heard what had happened, her hair was wet and tangled from her bath but she didn't take the time to properly brush out the knots until today.

King Aragorn and Queen Arwen gave them their apologies for what had happened to Ramini, and the King himself promised to personally handle the punishment of the men who attacked their guests. Selene had been meaning to search out Valdon in order to formally thank him for coming to the aid of her knight, not to mention her dearest friend's aid. But the light haired Queen had been less than willing to leave her subject's side after the event had taken place. Selene blamed herself a bit for Ramini being alone when she was attacked, although Ramini considered herself glad that Selene was not in danger at the time. However now Ramini was even more certain that it was not wise to stay here, and while Selene had wanted to stay she felt herself becoming unsure as well. If they were not safe here then it would be better to leave, however the Queen and King of his land did give their word to make sure that the men would be punished. It put Selene in a difficult position, she felt like they needed to stay were aid was offered to them. But if they were in danger of getting attacked, well… Then Selene would not have a choice, she would not put Ramini nor herself in unnecessary danger.

The foreign Queen leaned her cheek against the palm of her hand, worry etched into her delicate features. She stared out the window, watching the sun slowly retreat towards the west as Apollo drove the sun chariot to the earth and the moon began to raise higher into the sky. The sunset used to bring her a little bit of peace, because she knew the stars would come out and she would gaze upon the glowing orbs in hopes that she might see Aither captured into the stars. Remembered for his deeds before he gave his life away for hers. But even as the sky faded into a dark blue and the stars shone brightly she did not see him amongst the stars, she never did. With a light sigh Selene closed her eyes, for a moment getting lost in herself before she felt a drop of water fall onto her face. Her eyes opened as she felt more drops fall onto her cheek and nose and saw that it had started to rain.

"Ακόμη και τα ουράνια κλαίνε." (Even the heavens cry.) Selene spoke in a low voice, barely above a whisper as she watched the rain fall down to the earth.

"Δε νομίζω ότι κλαίνε." (I don't think they cry.) Selene turned away from the window and saw that her friend was sitting up in bed. Her dark curly hair hung in tangles around her face and her eyes looked a tad bit irritated from waking up. Her upper torso was exposed except for the bandages that covered her left shoulder and over her breasts. "Πιστεύω πως οι ουρανοί απλώς αποκαθαίρουν τη γη απ ό,τι έχει συμβεί τις τελευταίες μέρες." (I think the skies are simply cleansing the earth from what has happened the past few days.) Selene briskly walked towards her friend, pushing herself away from the window.

"Με κατατρόμαξες." (You had me scared.) Selene spoke in a soft tone as she set on the edge of the bed. Ramini ran a few fingers through the curls on her head in what looked like an attempt to tame them. Ramini's eyes were hard to read, her expression seemed to be boarding between guilt, anger, and perhaps humiliation.

"Πόση ώρα ήμουν αναίσθητη?" (How long was I unconscious?) Ramini asked, her voice was a bit hoarse and she ran her tongue over her dried lips. They seemed to be slightly cracked and when Selene looked closely enough she noticed a fire slowly forming in Ramini's irises. Selene cleared her throat and gave her friend an unreadable look. She did not want to look at her in pity and she wasn't able to look at her in anger.

"Πάει μια ολόκληρη μέρα από την τελευταία φορά που είδα τα μάτια σου." (It has been a full day since I last saw your eyes.) Selene's voice seemed to strike Ramini as she noticed the girl's hands curling up into a fist, taking some of the fabric from the blanket with them. There was silence after that. Ramini didn't yell in frustration, she didn't mumble incoherent sentences about "stupid men" or "cheating scum". Honestly it worried Selene even more to be met with silence. Something was that was rather out of character for her dear friend. Then finally, after several minutes Ramini broke the silence.

"Δε θα έπρεπε να είμαστε εδώ, Υψηλοτάτη." (We should not be here my Queen.) Ramini spoke clearly, her voice sounded a little raw still but it didn't take away from the convection used. "Αυτό το μέρος δεν είναι ασφαλές για μας. Προσποιούνται τους συμμάχους, τους φίλους, αλλά πόσο θα διαρκέσει? Δύο από τους φρουρούς μου επιτέθηκαν, τι θα γίνει αν επιτεθούν και σε σένα? Είναι πολύ ριψοκίνδυνο να μείνουμε εδώ. Παραείμαστε αβέβαιες για το τι θα κάνουν όταν μας βαρεθούνε ή όταν τελειώσει η υπομονή τους. Βασίλισσά μου, Φίλη μου, σε παρακαλώ... Δεν μπορούμε να μείνουμε." (This place is not safe for us. They claim to be allies, to be friends, but how long will it last? Two of their guards attacked me, what if they were to attack you? It is too risky staying here. Too uncertain on what they will do once they grow bored or lose their patience. My Queen, my friend please… We cannot stay.)

Selene frowned after her friend spoke, she couldn't say that she did not see it coming. Truthfully she was surprised with how Ramini hadn't brought up the topic more often: that she did not try to persuade Selene more than just saying she didn't "trust them". Selene brushed a pale strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear as she thought of how to respond. She couldn't say that all was well, that it would never happen. Men and women alike could betray one another at a drop of a hat, Selene had witnessed it firsthand for herself and it had devastating consequences. However there were little options available to them. Selene could speak the language brokenly and she could comprehend it, so long as the speaker slowed down their speech just a little. When they spoke too quickly it was hard to grasp it all. Honestly the only piece of information Selene had to regarding their home was that it was over the seas and that the boat she jumped from washed her up towards the south. That did not meant that her home was to the south, they could have been moving around the land when she jumped free from her captors. She was kept below deck until that moment so Selene wasn't entirely aware. True that Ramini was not held in the same room and possibly not the same floor, but if she had a better idea of where home was then Ramini would have spoken of it by now. The fact that she didn't was troubling.

"Βασιλισσα?" (My Queen?) Ramini started to speak again after she was met with silence from Selene. However before she could start to really speak to her there was a knock on the door. Ramini moved to get out of the bed, but flinched and grabbed her shoulder when she tried to put too much pressure on that side of her body. Selene merely shook her head at Ramini and stood.

"Sit." Selene spoke in what was referred to as "common tongue", Ramini's face scrunched up slightly before she frowned to herself as she comprehended what was said to her. Selene offered her a slight smile, a bit amused by her friend's antics despite the situation at hand. Selene walked to the door, hesitating for only a moment as she thought of Ramini told her. But even if it was someone who had come to harm them it would be utterly foolish to do so at their own room. Selene thought that if someone were to attack them they would lead them out of the city first, explaining an accident in the woods or out in the wilderness would be simpler not to mention more believable than attacking the two girls in their room. Despite her confidence on the matter Selene still made a mental note that there was a sword leaning against the wall beside Ramini's bed and also near the door if she needed to make a quick grab. Taking in a deep breath Selene opened the door before Ramini could get too suspicious or concerned by the delay.

"Selene, I came to check on Ramini's wound," The kind and light voice of Gondors Queen rang in Selene's ear. The blonde lightly bowed to the foreign Queen before Lady Arwen was able to continue her thought. "Seeing as it was one of our guards. I feel responsible for her injury. I only wish to ensure that it is healing nicely on its own since she does not wish to have it healed by my kind." Ramini sat up a little straighter at the mention of her name as well as seeing her Queen bow to another. Selene took a few moments to process what was said to her before she gave a curt nod.

"I thank you. Wound healing nicely," Selene glanced back at Ramini as she spoke, looking at the bandage that was slowly turning red. "It needs to be redressed." Lady Arwen nodded at Selene's words and waited for the pale blonde woman to move to the side to grant her entry into the room, and once she did Arwen did not hesitate walking to Ramini's side.

"May I?" The dark haired Queen asked, her delicate hands only inches away from Ramini's shoulder while the curly haired warrior looked at her with a hint of distrust. When she looked to her own Queen for guidance Selene merely nodded at Ramini and watched as her friend's body language became less stiff. Selene closed the door so that Lady Arwen could unwrap Ramini's shoulder and chest to get a better look at the stitched gash. The skin was still a little irritated but Arwen mentioned that she did not think that it was infected by any means. She gently rewrapped the injury as well as Ramini's chest, trying not to cause Ramini too much pain. And for the most part Ramini seemed rather stone faced about it. She did not flinch away or move too much while Arwen investigated the stab wound and even managed to keep herself still for it to be rewrapped properly.

"Thank you." Selene said softly and Gondor's Queen simply offered a warm smile in response.

"I will let you rest." Arwen walked gracefully towards the doorway but stopped just as she was pulling the large wooden poor open. "We will be having dinner in a few minutes. Would you like me to have dinner sent to your room tonight as well? Or will you join Elessar and I tonight?" Arwen looked back at Selene who briefly shared a few words with Ramini who then scowled when the fair haired woman smiled.

"We will join you and the King. Ramini must dress first." Selene smiled and bowed once more. Arwen's eyes seemed to light up just a little although her face remained neutral.

"I will send for you."

Meanwhile in Eryn Lasgalen (Mirkwood) – Legolas' POV – Third Person

Legolas looked at the incomplete book in his hands as he made his way to the library within the palace grounds. His father had other duties to attend to and the ellon did not wish to give his father more opportunities to tease him about women. As he walked through the halls a familiar face made itself known to him. Mellimeldisiel strode towards the Elven Prince in a gown that seemed to shift from various light and pale greens to a turquoise color with every step she took. Her dark hair hung loosely down past her shoulders and her bright blue eyes shined with mirth as a small smile was barely noticeable on her lips. Legolas had known his friend for many years, since he was a young ellon, and he knew that the look on her face was undoubtedly one of mischief. But it did not seem as if his friend was planning to do anything as of right now.

"Gi suilon mellon nin." (I greet you my friend.) Legolas said with a smile that was returned to him by the elleth. They stopped a few feet away from one another.

"Mae g'ovannen." (Well met.) Mellimeldsiel responded, she tilted her head to the side and glanced at the journal he held in his hands.

"Manen i 'ovaded?" (How was the meeting?) The elleth asked, Legolas motioned for her to walk with him as he continued down the hallway to his destination. As they walked down the hallways towards the library as he showed the journal to Mellimeldsiel.

"Adar parf nin." (Father gave me this journal.) Mellimeldsiel looked at the neatly sown fabric covering the book. She started to reach for the book and noticed Legolas' hand tighten around it ever so slightly. The elleth sighed and shook her head slightly.

"Honestly, mellon nin, I do not intend to steal the journal from you. I only wish to look at it." Mellimeldsiel said, switching to common tongue, something that she often did when she felt exasperated by other people or situations. She tugged the book gently from the Prince's hand, not something many would have done lightly, but for how long she had known him she felt more at ease doing such a thing. The dark haired elleth opened the book and ran her fingers delicately over the strange letters of another language. Not one that she, nor many it would seem, have studied.

"I assume you're headed to the library, to study the journal. Although I do not understand why. Is this not merely a copy of the previous journal? Have you not read the entire thing mellon nin?" Mellimeldsiel asked as she turned on her heel and walked back in the direction she had come from. Legolas followed his friends through the twisting and green halls of the palace as they made their way to the library.

"You do not need to trouble yourself with helping me mellon nin, I am sure you have other duties to attend to."

"Unless there is an attack on the border, and I am called to defend my home, you will find that I am free to do as I please for the moment. Besides, I found myself quite curious of what it is you are looking into Legolas. Your story of how you found a human, miles from any human settlements, chased by orcs and crossing into the border of Ithilien. Not to mention her language is one we have not heard before, or so we thought. It is a very curious situation and I find it very interesting. It appears your father knew of it as well. What all did he say to you?" Mellimeldsiel asked, Legolas clicked his tongue slightly and frowned, he'd rather not give his old friend something to tease him about as well. So he would leave a bit of the conversation out of this one.

"There was another person who once was here with the same language. The journal I studied previously had been of his own creation. My Adar had known him personally and mentioned that the man had intended to teach the languages here to his own people back home; but he must have forgotten his journal here." Legolas then motioned to the copy of the journal he now carried as he continued with the tale. Thinking to himself how forgetful humans could be. "This journal was created before the man, whom my father addressed as Kethean, had left for his country. Kethean was the elven name bestowed on him from my father, but his name from being a son of man was Aither." Mellimeldsiel nodded in understanding, turning another corner as the entrance arch into the library came into view.

"So then your father had someone start to copy down the language from this Kethean's journal in order to retain some of the information?" Mellimeldsiel asked to clarify her own thoughts. She always did catch onto things relatively quickly.

"I don't believe that I had ever met this man, it may have been that during that time I was being trained in Lothlórien. Do you know of the timing when he was in this realm?"

"According to my father he arrived a few years before the Dwarves set out to reclaim their homeland in the Lonely Mountain from Smaug the Terrible. Kethean had already left by the time the Dwarves reached the Woodland realm."

"Then I was not here during the time of his visit to our home. However," Mellmeldsiel glanced over at Legolas as she entered the library. "How is it that you did not know of him? You were here, were you not? It was during your patrol that you had captured the Dwarves." Legolas sighed, he had hoped she wasn't going to question too much and look too deeply into the time frame. While it was not a conversation he wanted to repeat; and he knew it would repeat, he was not one to lie to his friends.

"I was here, but I had never met him. I was rather preoccupied at the time. It is a shame as well, it would have been helpful to have met him while he was here. I would have liked to learn from him, not just the journal that was left behind." Legolas said.

"Yes, it is unfortunate that you were not able to meet him yourself. Although with such an interesting man here it makes me curious what could have possibly had your attention so strongly." The tips of Melldeldsiel's lips tilted up slightly. She turned her grey orbs to his bright blue ones.

"We were fending off attacks from the Giant Spiders daily, they had become bolder at the time and darkness was settling over our lands." Legolas explained as he went to one of the many tables provided in the library. The brunette on his heels as she continued to follow him.

"I'm sure it was a stressful time indeed. Not only for the attacks being placed on our home. But it was about that time you were considering on courting was it not? You had never really shown too much interest, and the only other experience… Well, we both agreed that while we were friends, there was nothing romantic there. And that was the end of it." Legolas frowned and opened the book as he set it on the table. Trying his hardest to ignore the elleth. "I do believe that last time it was a red haired elleth was it not? The one that you had so dearly fancied?" Melldeldsiel teased lightly, she leaned her forearms onto the table as she watched him train his eyes on the pages. She waited for a response, but Legolas had his face masked into a look of indifference and focus.

"So is that the reason you did not notice that such a strange source of knowledge resided right under your nose? Although, now you are getting another chance to learn. But this time it is a human woman not a man. Speaking of which, did your father have any clues as to where the man came from last time? Perhaps it would help us figure out what to do with those two human girls." Melldeldsiel mused, Legolas glanced up at her only after she seemed to stray off of the topic of his romantic interactions. Although at the moment she was not looking at him, instead she looked at the wood grain of the table as she traced the pattern with her finger tips.

"He did not mention much on the topic, but that Kethean had come from a ship." Legolas started, bright grey orbs flashed up to his blue ones and Melldeldsiel seemed to make the connection for herself.

"Which means that his man, this Kethean, came from across the sea. Although we don't know of places he could have come from. Does that mean that there is more out there than the Grey Havens?" Legolas nodded.

"That is my theory, although I don't know where his land was. Therefore I can't be sure where Selene's land is. There is also the possibly that there is a small colony of his people elsewhere here in Ennor. Perhaps in Rhûn or Harad, maybe even one of the other lands. But we cannot be sure. Hopefully she will be able to shed more light on it once I return to Gondor." Legolas commented. Melldeldsiel looked at her friend with an unreadable expression. Her smile had turned into a neutral line and her eyes seemed to hold many questions that would not break through to the surface. The elleth sighed lightly as her eye lids fluttered shut and she rested her cheek on the palm of her hand. They sat there for a few moments in silence as Legolas brought out his own journal. In the few minutes of silence all that could be heard was light breathing and the sound of pen pressing into the paper.

"I suppose this does not leave me very many options, Legolas." She said a bit quieter with her eyes closed. The Prince looked back at his friend, a slight curiosity showing in his eyes. His writing halted at the sudden break into the silence.

"This is not a task you can bear alone, besides, you have caught my curiosities. So tell me," She started, her grey eyes opening once more to stare at the ellon across from her. "When are we leaving for Gondor?"

**Authors Note:**

**So for those who didn't know what Rhûn, Harard, and Ennor were: Ennor is supposed to be Sindarin for Middle Earth. Then Rhûn and Harad are lands in middle earth but are not on the maps. Also I noticed some small mistakes I made with wording after posting the chapter and so I went back and fixed that. Only a few words.**

**Also what do people want to see? Are there moments you want to see or situations that the characters will be in? I'm interested in reader input, any curiosities?**

**Responses to Guests:**

** Aquafin, so earlier you asked if the sun god would be making an appearance and the answer is not likely. The only gods directly referenced as Gods will likely be in flashbacks. Also, Selene is only named after a Goddess but she herself is not a Goddess. Just in case there was any confusion.**


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